Help Me Find Great Modern Classical Music

Anything about MUSIC but doesn't fit into the forums above.
Post Reply New Topic
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

Barshai;s Mahler No 5 is popular as well, played in this recording by a youth (!) orchestra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoAmrl_GZbQ

Post

Gamma-UT wrote:There's also a bunch of non-avant garde American (or naturalised American) 20th Century composers who as a group span the two World Wars, such as Ernest Bloch, Samuel Barber and Nicolas Flagello. Barber's obviously the most famous because of Adagio for Strings. They are mostly not my thing but might suit someone looking for composers at the romanticism end of the spectrum.
Let me start with Barber’s Adagio for Strings. Love it!

Ernest Bloch
Symphony in C Sharp Minor (1903)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-uHV5h2iss
I will search more of his symphonies.

Nicolas Flagello (1928-1994): Missa Sinfonica.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vv-aokV6kA
One more that will add to the list to get their CD’s

Post

Sampleconstruct wrote:Asyla - a great work by Thomas Adès, some of it is like orchestral techno with polyrhythms and kick drum mayhem (Gran Cassa). I did some audio footage for a documentary (Trip to Asia) during the rehearsals and performances with the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra (Sir Simon promoted Adès for a while), there are many parts in this piece I simply love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28v6oBv37K0
I see that you have a much wider range in the appreciation of music. I mentioned earlier I am in a rut which I truly enjoy. So thanks for your effort to help me see over the horizon.

Asyla except for the ugly parts is nice. I can hear you saying “the ugly part is the best part”. Was I right?

His Polaris and Tevot also sound interesting. I will Thomas Adès to my list. I just may find this music to my liking. Some day!

Post

Kalamata Kid wrote:
Asyla except for the ugly parts is nice. I can hear you saying “the ugly part is the best part”. Was I right?
Not at all, in fact I prefer the subtle and quiet parts in Asyla, some very delicate and quite string ambiences, just beautiful. But some of the polyrhythmic "techno"-stuff just sounds spectacular and is well composed (and often badly played, as the classically trained musicians can't really cope with this sort of stuff).
Last edited by Sampleconstruct on Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Post

Nightpolymath wrote:
Kalamata Kid wrote:
Nightpolymath wrote:
Kalamata Kid wrote:
Nightpolymath wrote:I also didn't see Schubert on your list but the 9th and 10th Symphonies are great early Romantic works. Ditto his Trout and Maiden quartets.
Yes I like Schubert. Originally avoided him but cannot recall why. I do not recall which of his works I like so I put your suggestion on my growing longer list. I am looking forward to hearing all the works on the list and am sure will find some gems.

Beethoven's seventh is my favorite followed by the third, sixth and then eight ( does nay one else like #8?). I will take you up on your suggestion and get "Lenny Bernstein's Beethoven C Minor String Quartet (#14) played by the ENTIRE Wiener Philharmoniker." Perhaps I have overlooked this over the years.
I've gravitated towards some of the smaller ensembles for Beethoven. It gives the music more urgency. The Norrington, Hanoncourt, and Gardiner cycles are some of my favorite ones. So much so that I've confined all the Karajan recordings to the dust heap.

There are also the Brahms symphonies - all great works by any measure.

Also Edward Elgar, mostly known for that ubiquitous Cello Concerto and also Pomp and Circumstance, but his Cantatas are some of my favorite works.
Not sure why I have ignored Brahms. Yes I will add him to my list. Perhaps you have a suggestion that you think I may like?

Yes I have a few works by Elgar. I like the Cello Concerto and also Pomp and Circumstance lot and will check out the Cantatas.

Hmmm. I may have heard your Beethoven suggestions but will hunt them down to be sure.
You may like Brahms Piano Concerto #2 and Piano Sonata #3. His symphonies #2 and #4 are the ones I like the most although to be honest any Brahms concerto or symphonic work is extremely fulfilling. He was a classicist at heart, living at the end of the Romantic period.

I tend to be more selective about Mahler, since there are as many bad interpretations as good ones. The Bernstein Mahler cycles tend to be generally very good, as is the Bertini one. For Mahler 5 there is only one which I really like - the Kubelik recording with the Bavarian RSO. For #2 the Klemperer version is a firm favorite of mine. I am not really a big fan of the rest of Maher's works. They can only be taken in small doses, just like Wagner. :D
I will take your advice on Brahms.

I had the pleasure to hear Mahler’s 8 in Chicago a long time ago. It was my Mahler favorite for a long time. Now I like his earlier works. Not good enough to tell a good vs a bad Mahler recordings. I do like him a lot! Dark!

Post

Thanks. Both excellent but favor Max Richter In Concert: Reimagining Vivaldi by tiny amount.

Post

Kalamata Kid wrote: I had the pleasure to hear Mahler’s 8 in Chicago a long time ago. It was my Mahler favorite for a long time. Now I like his earlier works. Not good enough to tell a good vs a bad Mahler recordings. I do like him a lot! Dark!
If you want really dark Mahler you have to go beyond his symphonies, for example Kindertotenlieder is very dark and powerful.

Post

Sampleconstruct wrote:
Kalamata Kid wrote:
Asyla except for the ugly parts is nice. I can hear you saying “the ugly part is the best part”. Was I right?
Not at all, in fact I prefer the subtle and quiet parts in Asyla, some very delicate and quite string ambiences, just beautiful. But some of the polyrhythmic "techno"-stuff just sounds spectacular and is well composed (and often badly played, as the classically trained musicians can't really cope with this sort of stuff).
My apologies. Did not mean to slender you. :roll:

I do like the delicate parts and nowadays and hate perhaps a too harsh of a word to use here the loud drum and other crashing percussive sounds. I find them distracting and in poor taste. Are they meant to awaken the audience? Hey at one time I used to like that so I should not be so rude. :D

Post

A modern composer I like a lot but you don't hear about much is Richard Wernick - here is one of his chamber pieces but my favourite is Songs of remembrance (sung in ancient Greek) but I can't find a link to that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgdOpKQ240o

Not sure if Steve Reich has been mentioned, he's amazingly good - this is one of my favourites of his:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjnVN6-Wx08

Post

aMUSEd wrote:
Kalamata Kid wrote: I had the pleasure to hear Mahler’s 8 in Chicago a long time ago. It was my Mahler favorite for a long time. Now I like his earlier works. Not good enough to tell a good vs a bad Mahler recordings. I do like him a lot! Dark!
If you want really dark Mahler you have to go beyond his symphonies, for example Kindertotenlieder is very dark and powerful.
Here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXWMdf2JGag
I no longer like human voice in classical music.
It does sound dark and tragic.

Post

Ah, tbh I love human voice in classical, I tend to prefer lieder, lyric symphonies (esp Zemlinsky's and Mahler's Song of the Earth) and chamber music to larger orchestral pieces. Like I prefer Mozart's masses to pretty much everything else he did.

Post

aMUSEd wrote:A modern composer I like a lot but you don't hear about much is Richard Wernick - here is one of his chamber pieces but my favourite is Songs of remembrance (sung in ancient Greek) but I can't find a link to that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgdOpKQ240o

Not sure if Steve Reich has been mentioned, he's amazingly good - this is one of my favourites of his:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjnVN6-Wx08
Will add Wernick to my list. Usually do not like this type of music but somehow I like this piece. Did he compose any symphonies?

As for Steve Reich did not touch me at all. Also I avoid voice in classical music.

Post

Kalamata Kid wrote:
aMUSEd wrote:A modern composer I like a lot but you don't hear about much is Richard Wernick - here is one of his chamber pieces but my favourite is Songs of remembrance (sung in ancient Greek) but I can't find a link to that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgdOpKQ240o

Not sure if Steve Reich has been mentioned, he's amazingly good - this is one of my favourites of his:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjnVN6-Wx08
Will add Wernick to my list. Usually do not like this type of music but somehow I like this piece. Did he compose any symphonies?
No, mainly for smaller ensembles and voice (which is what got my interest tbh)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wernick

he seems very able to strike a good balance between atonality and tonality that I like.

Post

Nightpolymath wrote:
Kalamata Kid wrote:
Nightpolymath wrote:I also didn't see Schubert on your list but the 9th and 10th Symphonies are great early Romantic works. Ditto his Trout and Maiden quartets.
Yes I like Schubert. Originally avoided him but cannot recall why. I do not recall which of his works I like so I put your suggestion on my growing longer list. I am looking forward to hearing all the works on the list and am sure will find some gems.

Beethoven's seventh is my favorite followed by the third, sixth and then eight ( does nay one else like #8?). I will take you up on your suggestion and get "Lenny Bernstein's Beethoven C Minor String Quartet (#14) played by the ENTIRE Wiener Philharmoniker." Perhaps I have overlooked this over the years.
I've gravitated towards some of the smaller ensembles for Beethoven. It gives the music more urgency. The Norrington, Hanoncourt, and Gardiner cycles are some of my favorite ones. So much so that I've confined all the Karajan recordings to the dust heap.

There are also the Brahms symphonies - all great works by any measure.

Also Edward Elgar, mostly known for that ubiquitous Cello Concerto and also Pomp and Circumstance, but his Cantatas are some of my favorite works.
Check this out. Are these people sane?
http://www.talkclassical.com/21868-thes ... print.html
As the joke goes in this great recording it so good that you can hear Solti fart. But there in an even better recording you can tell that he had eaten lima beans from Ecuador. Wow! :lol:

Post

LOL that first list is pretty normal. :D I have most of those mentioned; it's been a bad habit for many years (collecting Beethoven cycles, that is). But to repeat the ones worth having are Norrington, Harnoncourt, Gardiner, and I will also add Mackerras and Zinman to the list. Barenboim if you want a somewhat Romantic interpretation. Karajan if you want Teutonic coldness. Solti for some theatrics (never noticed his farts, though, they must have Melodyned it out). Avoid the Jarvi cycle, it's the worst IMHO. The rest are so so. But get Carlos Kleiber only for the 5th and 7th. It's a classic recording.

Post Reply

Return to “Everything Else (Music related)”