Great Works Of The Last Ten Years: Your Suggestions?

[amw]

Judged from existing recordings, there unfortunately seem to be less great works than in former decades. Hope that's mostly due to the fact, that many 21st century works have still not been published on CD/LP/MP3

Definitely true. CD sales have dropped off so sharply that most of the larger companies no longer publish new repertoire—or for that matter older repertoire that hasn't yet appeared on CD. Also, many of the more enterprising ensembles and orchestras are in more severe financial straits now than they were, and can't afford to put on as much new music (as much because it doesn't sell as because of the extra costs involved in paying the composer, publisher, licensing fees etc). That in turn has something to do with the fact that since the end of the Cold War, most of the West no longer has any reason to promote culture and the arts as there isn't an Enemy out there to prove one's cultural superiority to. Thus state funding for music (the most important source of patronage since approximately the 15th century) has dropped off sharply in favour of funding for science and technology.

However, the amount of music being produced has not decreased, even if the music that gets the most public exposure tends to be neoconservative in outlook. There's still lots of great stuff out there to suit all tastes—from experimental boundary-pushing stuff to attempts to revive the style of the Italian Baroque—you just have to dig for it. Any list of composers or works supplied by any one person will necessarily be limited in outlook and not reflect your own taste. The same is also true of collaborative threads like the 21st Century Classical Music thread, which you can go through if you like.

Thus if you find works you like by Pierre Espaceréservé, instead of asking us for other things that are similar or searching for him on Amazon or Prestoclassical, I'd advise going to his website—youtube channel, soundcloud, etc—and looking to see if he has other music posted there, and also what musicians and composers he's associated with. (e.g. if he studied with Yannick Écart, look up some of his compositions as well; if he regularly collaborates with the Quatuor Personne look them up to see what else they play, etc—if he's got a soundcloud or youtube page, look to see who he's following—and so forth.) Similarly, with the record labels approach, look through their catalogues and listen to clips if they make them available, or search for the composers on youtube if they don't. Eventually, you're bound to find things you like, even if you also find a lot of other things that are boring. And you also get to go on what feels like an exciting journey of discovery!

[chadfeldheimer]

Thanks for the suggestions!

I'm pondering that as well! I was fairly up to date on what was current back in '04/'05 when I drifted into other pursuits, and, while I'm grateful for everyone's suggestions and have been listening a-plenty, I'm left with the feeling of: "Welcome to the future! Nothing's changed."

2014 isn't exactly shaping up to be 1914, but I want nothing more than time to prove me wrong.

Yes - maybe most things, that can be expressed musically seem to be said. There seems to be now chance for a big revolution anymore, like it happened e.g. at the advents of 12-tone composition, serialism or minimalism (maybe the last real revolution in classical music). Perhaps that weakens the enthusiasm of many composers nowadays. But I think it will always be possible to create a personal style and refine your composition technique.

[chadfeldheimer]

Definitely true. CD sales have dropped off so sharply that most of the larger companies no longer publish new repertoire—or for that matter older repertoire that hasn't yet appeared on CD. Also, many of the more enterprising ensembles and orchestras are in more severe financial straits now than they were, and can't afford to put on as much new music (as much because it doesn't sell as because of the extra costs involved in paying the composer, publisher, licensing fees etc). That in turn has something to do with the fact that since the end of the Cold War, most of the West no longer has any reason to promote culture and the arts as there isn't an Enemy out there to prove one's cultural superiority to. Thus state funding for music (the most important source of patronage since approximately the 15th century) has dropped off sharply in favour of funding for science and technology.

However, the amount of music being produced has not decreased, even if the music that gets the most public exposure tends to be neoconservative in outlook. There's still lots of great stuff out there to suit all tastes—from experimental boundary-pushing stuff to attempts to revive the style of the Italian Baroque—you just have to dig for it. Any list of composers or works supplied by any one person will necessarily be limited in outlook and not reflect your own taste. The same is also true of collaborative threads like the 21st Century Classical Music thread, which you can go through if you like.

Thus if you find works you like by Pierre Espaceréservé, instead of asking us for other things that are similar or searching for him on Amazon or Prestoclassical, I'd advise going to his website—youtube channel, soundcloud, etc—and looking to see if he has other music posted there, and also what musicians and composers he's associated with. (e.g. if he studied with Yannick Écart, look up some of his compositions as well; if he regularly collaborates with the Quatuor Personne look them up to see what else they play, etc—if he's got a soundcloud or youtube page, look to see who he's following—and so forth.) Similarly, with the record labels approach, look through their catalogues and listen to clips if they make them available, or search for the composers on youtube if they don't. Eventually, you're bound to find things you like, even if you also find a lot of other things that are boring. And you also get to go on what feels like an exciting journey of discovery!

I agree there's still lots of good stuff out there, if you dig deeper for it. Still I have the impression, that the standard of contemporary classical compostion or performance is done with a bit less enthusiasm than maybe 30 years ago. I also think that classical compositions got more obvious over the last years. Maybe it's just me because many new composers are roughly from my generation and therefore their influences are particularly obvious for me.

[some guy]

While I reject the "great works" premise, I also reject the "Welcome to the future! Nothing's changed" assertion.

What that says to me is that the asserter just isn't getting out enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ob6nf8-JWo

https://erikm.bandcamp.com/album/st-me-2008

http://search.yahoo.com/mobile/s?ei=UTF-8&fr=fennec&p=vimeo+andrea+neumann

http://search.yahoo.com/mobile/s?ei=UTF-8&fr=fennec&p=emmanuelle+gibello

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0JhdwS_tFQ

Note that not all of these are "works," some being recordings of live improv, something that has been missing from non-organ classical music since the baroque era. And which is arguably not really "classical music" any more. I don't have a problem with that, having become increasingly dissatisfied with that particular term. But "oh well."

[Karl Henning]

Yes - maybe most things, that can be expressed musically seem to be said.

Others have said that before.  So, yes, it's still wrong.

[Karl Henning]

I agree there's still lots of good stuff out there, if you dig deeper for it. Still I have the impression, that the standard of contemporary classical compostion or performance is done with a bit less enthusiasm than maybe 30 years ago.

My compositional enthusiasm is, if anything, greater still than it was 30 years ago.

[Rinaldo]

In case of Haas, I'd vote for Limited Approximations.

https://www.youtube.com/v/BoqvGLdjUhE

And I'm still in love with Caroline Shaw's Pulitzer-winning Partita for 8 voices:

https://www.youtube.com/v/2mukrVsKqTs https://www.youtube.com/v/-aJF5uoU7fI https://www.youtube.com/v/xxTF2umRtqY https://www.youtube.com/v/1LlE41gvNcw

[Fagotterdämmerung]

And I'm still in love with Caroline Shaw's Pulitzer-winning Partita for 8 voices.

I absolutely love Partita for 8 voices! That is exactly the kind of thing I started this thread hoping to find - something excellent, yet excellent in some way slightly new. Thanks so much for your suggestion!

Edit: and wow, the composer is appearing in concert next Friday just a couple blocks from my house! What are the odds! 

[ibanezmonster]

While I reject the "great works" premise, I also reject the "Welcome to the future! Nothing's changed" assertion.

What that says to me is that the asserter just isn't getting out enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ob6nf8-JWo

Wow, this one ("Speed" by Ludger Brummer) is really good.

"Hyperion" by GF Haas is one of the best works I've heard written in the last 10 years... I might have to check out this thread more, since I've been underwhelmed by famous contemporary composers that aren't so old that they're on the verge of death. Seriously, some of the best contemporary classical music I've heard has come from members of this forum, and none of them are even famous. If I had to choose a favorite classical work written in the last ten years, it might actually be this one, written by a forum member:


https://www.youtube.com/v/Fu76gtgMp6s

and I don't see it ever getting a performance, sadly. Many works by Karl and Luke here are better than what has been called the best contemporary classical music. It seems it's more about who you know rather than actual competency at creating compelling music.

[Ken B]

I absolutely love Partita for 8 voices! That is exactly the kind of thing I started this thread hoping to find - something excellent, yet excellent in some way slightly new. Thanks so much for your suggestion!

Edit: and wow, the composer is appearing in concert next Friday just a couple blocks from my house! What are the odds! 

Where are you located?

Listening to Partita now. thanks for the heads up! It's like Philip Glass and Virgil Thomson got together and rewrote Stimmung.

[Fagotterdämmerung]

Where are you located?

Vancouver, BC...

Edit: this one, to be specific: http://www.musiconmain.ca/concerts/music-for-the-winter-solstice/

[chadfeldheimer]

My compositional enthusiasm is, if anything, greater still than it was 30 years ago.

I can well believe it.

[ibanezmonster]

All of these fall into the "welcome to the future, nothing has changed" category

Nowadays it seems near impossible for a composer to create music that is an extremely different style from everything else.

perhaps you should become more acquainted with what that means.

That's right- we just have to consult you, since you're the only one who knows. 

[some guy]

Seems most folks don't really have the time or inclination to absorb much cultural human history and its achievements to get a handle on things.

Yeah. Those lazy bastards.

They'd rather preach BS out of their ass and remain willfully ignorant, this is how we arrive at folks "rejecting" such realities as great work.

Lazy, willfully ignorant preacher bastards. Now there's a category you can take all the way to the bank. The bank of the river.

And it is easy to spot when someone is preaching BS like that.

Yeah. Easy-peazy. All you have to do is wait until "they" say anything contrary to what James believes. Nice and simple.

[Ken B]

Really there's a simple test to see if deep down you agree with James.
My third symphony is performed by farting and blowing a whistle at the same time. It's a brief piece.
If James is wrong then my third symphony is as great a work of art as Beethoven's.
Is it? Really?

It is unfashionable to say some things cultural are better than others, but the logic is clear enough. There are implications for morality too I think that people too easily overlook.

Incidentally, my symphony is copyrighted, so if you perform it please remit $79 per performance. I take PayPal.

[Karl Henning]

perhaps you should become more acquainted with what that means.

The judges rule that this can stand for either space B-2 or space I-5!

[some guy]

I believe you have just won post of the year for 2014, Karl.

[Edit: Oh, and also I have a Bingo on the N row.]

[Mirror Image]

The judges rule that this can stand for either space B-2 or space I-5!

Lol...Karl. I love playing this version of bingo, because we're all just vermin that dirty up James' little world.

[Daverz]

It is unfashionable to say some things cultural are better than others,

Babbitry never goes out of fashion.

[EigenUser]

Neither does Stupidity. i.e. "I reject 'the premise' of great work."

I don't really see the point in trying to decipher which works are "great" and which aren't, whether it is possible or not. I use buzzwords like "great" and "masterpiece" all of the time, but they really only serve the purpose of declaring my enthusiasm for something I love.

Life is too short and there is too much music to define and seek greatness. To partially-quote someone we both think highly of -- It's much more beautiful listening to Ansermet conducting Debussy's 'La Mer'! .