Favorite Orchestral Writer by Country?

[Mirror Image]

United States: Bernstein

Seriously? I like some of Bernstein's music, but he's your favorite from the United States?

[madaboutmahler]

Seriously? I like some of Bernstein's music, but he's your favorite from the United States?

Probably, yes John! Well, at least for orchestration which this topic is about. If it came to choosing a favourite American composer, I would find it very difficult to choose between Bernstein, Barber and Copland.

Russia: Stravinsky

I imagine you may change this to Prokofiev now?

[Mirror Image]

Probably, yes John! Well, at least for orchestration which this topic is about. If it came to choosing a favourite American composer, I would find it very difficult to choose between Bernstein, Barber and Copland.

I imagine you may change this to Prokofiev now?

No, Daniel, this thread is about your favorite orchestral writer by country, not orchestrator. Ives easily wins for me, but Barber and Copland aren't far behind.

No, actually Daniel, Stravinsky is still my favorite Russian composer. I love Prokofiev's music, as you know, but my attachment to Stravinsky's music predates my love for classical music. I heard some Stravinsky work about 17 years ago and was immediately enchanted with it. This was the nucleus that got the ball rolling. Unfortunately, I didn't really get into classical music until about '08. That's when a little lightbulb went off in my head, but I've always been a musically curious person, but I owe it to my grandfather whose persistence is what made me seriously listen to this music.

[TheGSMoeller]

I'm seeing Re:Orchestral Writer... and Re:Orchestrator...in this thread.

Maybe the topic was changed at some point.

[madaboutmahler]

No, Daniel, this thread is about your favorite orchestral writer by country, not orchestrator. Ives easily wins for me, but Barber and Copland aren't far behind.

No, actually Daniel, Stravinsky is still my favorite Russian composer. I love Prokofiev's music, as you know, but my attachment to Stravinsky's music predates my love for classical music. I heard some Stravinsky work about 17 years ago and was immediately enchanted with it. This was the nucleus that got the ball rolling. Unfortunately, I didn't really get into classical music until about '08. That's when a little lightbulb went off in my head, but I've always been a musically curious person, but I owe it to my grandfather whose persistence is what made me seriously listen to this music.

Yes, that is what I meant Never really got into Ives... will have to give his music another chance sometime. Talking of American composers, what do you think of Gershwin?

Ok '08?! So after only 3 years of listening, you know such a massive range of work...! Great, John Not the greatest fan of Stravinsky myself, I find quite a lot of his work rather boring, sorry. However, works like Symphony in Three Movements , Petrushka , The Firebird and of course The Rite of Spring remain favourites.

[North Star]

Below Dvorak, there is a great space, and then a huddle of mediocrity 

Biber, Zelenka, Gluck, Mahler (born in Kaliště, Bohemia), and Martinů might disagree

[Mirror Image]

Yes, that is what I meant Never really got into Ives... will have to give his music another chance sometime. Talking of American composers, what do you think of Gershwin?

Ok '08?! So after only 3 years of listening, you know such a massive range of work...! Great, John Not the greatest fan of Stravinsky myself, I find quite a lot of his work rather boring, sorry. However, works like Symphony in Three Movements , Petrushka , The Firebird and of course The Rite of Spring remain favourites.

Yes, give Ives a chance. Listen to his 2nd symphony or the Holidays symphony. The thing I admire about Ives's music is the freedom of expression. The music can go from incredibly lyrical to chaotic in a matter of measures, but the way Ives makes these transitions is awe-inspiring. He was writing polystylistic music before Schnittke was even born!

Anyway, I don't know that much about classical music, I do, however, know what I like, which took some time to find out. I listened to wide range of eras from Baroque to Contemporary and I found that the music I gravitated the most to was 20th Century music. I just can't get into the Classical Era or Baroque. The Romantic Era has some nice music, but even I found it seriously lacking from a harmonic standpoint, but I found late-Romantic music much more to my liking. This is where music started to change yet again. Composers like Bartok, Ravel, Koechlin, Vaughan Williams, Villa-Lobos, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, etc. are the reasons I still listen to classical music, otherwise, I could have simply moved onto something else or stayed with jazz, which I was heavily involved in for 10 years. Rock music also has also meant a lot to me through the years.

Re: Gershwin

From what little I've heard, he's a coo composer. I like the Porgy & Bess Suite and the Piano Concerto. Can't say I'm a fan of Rhapsody in Blue or American In Paris. I don't listen to Gershwin enough though to really make a good judgement on his music.

[madaboutmahler]

Yes, give Ives a chance. Listen to his 2nd symphony or the Holidays symphony. The thing I admire about Ives's music is the freedom of expression. The music can go from incredibly lyrical to chaotic in a matter of measures, but the way Ives makes these transitions is awe-inspiring. He was writing polystylistic music before Schnittke was even born!

Anyway, I don't know that much about classical music, I do, however, know what I like, which took some time to find out. I listened to wide range of eras from Baroque to Contemporary and I found that the music I gravitated the most to was 20th Century music. I just can't get into the Classical Era or Baroque. The Romantic Era has some nice music, but even I found it seriously lacking from a harmonic standpoint, but I found late-Romantic music much more to my liking. This is where music started to change yet again. Composers like Bartok, Ravel, Koechlin, Vaughan Williams, Villa-Lobos, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, etc. are the reasons I still listen to classical music, otherwise, I could have simply moved onto something else or stayed with jazz, which I was heavily involved in for 10 years. Rock music also has also meant a lot to me through the years.

Re: Gershwin

From what little I've heard, he's a coo composer. I like the Porgy & Bess Suite and the Piano Concerto. Can't say I'm a fan of Rhapsody in Blue or American In Paris. I don't listen to Gershwin enough though to really make a good judgement on his music.

Ives certainly sounds very interesting - I shall give him another chance. Maybe I was just listening to the wrong pieces before. I am yet to hear the 'Holidays symphony', which you mention, for example.

Great post John. It's so great that you found music. Without your knowledge of lesser known music, I would not know of a large handful of composers!

Gershwin certainly is a cool composer! I love those pieces you mention, even the ones you claim not to be a fan of. Come on John, they're irresistable! Rhapsody in Blue was one of the first pieces of classical music I was addicted to, probably around 6 years ago now...! Happy memories of just sitting down and listening to it over and over again...