Composers who died old

[starrynight]

Leo Ornstein was 109 / 110
Paul Le Flem 103
Arnold Cooke 99
Joaquin Rodrigo 97
Havergal Brian 96
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji 96
Otto Clarence Luening 96
Gustav Charpentier 95
Carl Ruggles 95
Miriam Hyde 95
Milton Babbitt 94
Jean Coulthard 92
Jean Sibelius 91
Aaron Copland 90
Giuseppe Verdi 88
Igor Stravinsky  88
Heinrich Schütz 87
Georg Philipp Telemann 86
Camille Saint-Saëns 86
Richard Strauss  85
Ralph Vaughan Williams 85
Malcolm Arnold 84
Frank Martin 84
Johann Adolph Hasse 84
Charles Koechlin 83
William Byrd 82 (or older)
Ernst von Dohnanyi 82
Walter Piston 82
Josquin des Préz  81
Luigi Cherubini 81
Pietro Mascagni 81
Darius Milhaud 81
Edgar Varese 81

It's probably wrong to try and find a common theme but it might be interesting to see if there are any similarities among some of them.  Where they productive right to the end or did they lose touch with musical developments later in their life?  Where they respected as esteemed elder statemen or just forgotten about by most of their contemporaries by their death?  I'd say most of them were respected at the end of their life but not all were productive until the end.  In Havergal Brian's case he gained fame later in life so his longevity helped his reputation perhaps. 

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Well Sibelius "died" as a composer around age 60, so he's the obvious instance of late non-development.

It's interesting that some composers lived to great ages long ago (Schuetz, Josquin); you can add Tallis and Byrd, who both (probably) made it to 80; maybe Ockeghem as well.

Of moderns, I think of Stravinsky and VW as continuing to develop well into old age, tho' in both cases I don't find their old-age work as compelling as what went before.

Meanwhile, Elliott Carter is still alive last I looked (102!).

[Mirror Image]

Two more to add to the list: Charles Koechlin who died at the age of 83 and also add Malcolm Arnold who died at the age of 85.

[Grazioso]

Re: Richard Strauss, there are some memorable portrayals of him in his old age, during the American occupation and de-Nazification process, found in Alex Ross's The Rest is Noise.

[Daverz]

An interesting contrary case is Janacek.  If he had died at 50, he'd probably be barely remembered.  All his masterpieces were written in the last 25 years of his life.  In his last 10 years he wrote

Taras Bulba
The Diary of One Who Disappeared
String Quartets 1 & 2
Sinfonietta
The Excursions of Mr. Broucek
Katya Kabanova
The Makropoulos Affair
The Cunning Little Vixen
Glagolithic Mass
From the House of the Dead

[Gurn Blanston]

Haydn was just 77 when he died, although in his time that was a generous lifespan (average being in the 30's). If he had died at 50 (in 1782), He would have been remembered as an above average composer, but not anything really special except to savants. The Op 33 string quartets would have probably been his last works, and only the first 75 symphonies! No Paris or London symphonies, no "Seven Last Words", none of the very fine late piano trios and sonatas, none of the 6 Great Masses, no 'Creation' or 'Seasons'!

He was still creative until about 70 years old. After that he freely admitted to burnout. Can't blame him.



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Now playing:
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center / Shifrin - Bia 204 Op 20 Septet in Eb for Strings & Winds 1st mvmt - Adagio

[Octo_Russ]

Joaquin Rodrigo was 97, he was 6 months short of the 21st century, i thought he was going to make his ton.

[Coco]

Milton Babbitt, who died just this year at 94.

Otto Luening was born in 1900 and died in 1996. What a time period to witness!

[Lethevich]

Sorabji: 96 (I think)

[Sid]

Australian composer, pianist, poet and music educator Miriam Hyde AO, OBE (1913–2005) died at the grand old age of 95. The only works that I've heard by her are her two piano concertos, much reminiscent of composers like Rachmaninov. Her orchestral work Village Fair, comes across as having the flavour of Chabrier's Espana. All these three works, the concertos with the composer as soloist, were reissued on ABC Eloquence (but I'm not sure if it's still in print). She was a musical polymath who contributed a lot to the musical development of this country, particularly as things began to become more sophisticated after WW2. Her fellow travellers were the Neo-Classically inclined Peggy Glanville Hicks & the Modernist Margaret Sutherland (they lived up to their seventies and eighties respectively, so not as long as Hyde). Come to think of it, these three women still haven't received the recognition they deserve, although a number of their works have been recorded (or reissues of older recordings made by the ABC) & they are getting an occassional outing in the concert halls...

[Mirror Image]

Canadian composer Jean Coulthard died at the age of 92. A long, fruitful life indeed. Her music was heavily influenced by French Impressionism and later by Bartok and Schoenberg. I would love to hear her music, but so few recordings exist.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

When he had passed his 70th year, Havergal Brian wrote Symphonies 6-32, four operas, two concertos and a few shorter orchestral works. He stopped composing in 1968, when he was 92.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

We're dipping into obscure territory now. Not yet mentioned: Paul Le Flem, who made it to 103:

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

[jochanaan]

When he had passed his 70th year, Havergal Brian wrote Symphonies 6-32, four operas, two concertos and a few shorter orchestral works. He stopped composing in 1968, when he was 92.

Are there any sketches from his last years?  Perhaps he continued to compose "privately" but produced nothing he thought was publication-worthy...

[karlhenning]

Canadian composer Jean Coulthard

Jean or Jeanne?  If it's Jean and the composer is Francophone, it may be he rather than she . . . .

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Are there any sketches from his last years?  Perhaps he continued to compose "privately" but produced nothing he thought was publication-worthy...

No, he was satisfied with his life's work. As he said, he now 'enjoyed silence'.

[jochanaan]

Jean or Jeanne?  If it's Jean and the composer is Francophone, it may be he rather than she . . . .

http://www.naxos.com/person/Jean_Coulthard/25729.htm She is a she, and spelled her name Jean; she was born in Vancouver.

[Mirror Image]

Jean or Jeanne?  If it's Jean and the composer is Francophone, it may be he rather than she . . . .

No, it's Jean and it's a she.

[Christo]

I think nobody mentioned Arnold Cooke (1906-2005) so far. He died at the age of 99, just six years ago. I knew some of his music (esp. the Third Symphony from 1967) since the late 1970s and admired it. But we never heard much more about him, so his death went generally unnoted.

Now that I came to learn some more of his compositions, I started to realize how `important' a composer he actually is.  I cannot remember I read about his death in 2005.

[starrynight]

In general I expect most composers will not be hugely productive in old age.  But I think you see with many musicians that they don't abandon music, they normally still keep involved in it in some way and maybe even still compose but at a lower level than before.

I wonder if things have changed over time as well.  Of course through the ages life expectancy has increased a great deal, so someone who lives to an old age will not stand out as much as in the distant past.  Also over time I tend to feel there has been more and more classical composers worldwide and yet this may have been met by less high profile for them (certainly by the last century).  In theory perhaps the longer a composer lives the more chance they have to make a name for themselves either in their own lifetime or after it.  But it's certainly possible for many good modern composers to never really become as famous as perhaps they deserve, and living a long time is no guarantee they will get more credit for their work.  And I'm not sure if it's a modern trend or not but often people are curious about younger artists and what the next new thing is rather than those who have been around a long time.  Maybe this might not be so prominent in classical music but it could still be a factor. 

Of course composers who achieve considerable recognition much earlier in life can be seen as acclaimed elder statesman by their old age, recognised for their influence and contribution.  Unless perhaps their style of music has gone out of fashion in which case they may not be so prominent.