The Major Orchestral Scores since World-War II

[James]

Perhaps placing personal tastes aside, which works do you think are the greatest written for the orchestra after World War II.

Try to be as objective as possible .. think of works that are essential statements, unique, singular, fresh .. all that.

[ritter]

Being completely objective isn't that easy, as matters of personal taste will always have a say in this kind of thing. Well, in any case, the first that come to mind are (in alpabetical order):

Berio: Sinfonia;  Formazioni
Birtwistle: Earth dances
Boulez: Rituel ; Répons; Notations I to IV and VII (hat tip to George Benjamin  )
Carter: A Symphony of three orchestras; Concerto for orchestra
Eötvös: Atlantis
Halffter: Versus
Harvey: Speakings
Höller: Sphären
Maderna: Quadrivium; Giardino religioso
Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum
Stockhausen: Gruppen; Trans (this latter one is not universally admired, I find it superb)
Stravinsky: Agon; Variations for orchestra, Aldous Huxley in memoriam (same comment as with Trans)

[North Star]

A companion piece to Rafael's list

Dutilleux: Timbres, Espace, Mouvement,  Métaboles,  Symphony no. 2
Kurtág: Stele
Ligeti: Lontano, Atmosphères
Lutosławski: Symphony no. 3
Messiaen: Turangalîla-symphonie, Chronochromie
Penderecki: Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima
Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten
Scelsi: Uaxuctum, Natura renovatur
Takemitsu: A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden
Xenakis: Metastaseis

[ritter]

A companion piece to Rafael's list

Dutilleux: Timbres, Espace, Mouvement,  Métaboles,  Symphony no. 2
Kurtág: Stele
Ligeti: Lontano, Atmosphères
Lutosławski: Symphony no. 3
Messiaen: Turangalîla-symphonie, Chronochromie
Penderecki: Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima
Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten
Scelsi: Uaxuctum
Takemitsu: A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden
Xenakis: Metastaseis

Good company indeed, Karlo. Some pieces you mention I must explore...Scelsi, for instance, is rather uncharted territory as far as I am concerned.

[North Star]

Good company indeed, Karlo. Some pieces you mention I must explore...Scelsi, for instance, is rather uncharted territory as far as I am concerned.

Ditto on your list - Halffter, Harvey, ans Höller are some whose music I don't know at all, and I'm not too familiar with Eötvös, Maderna or Birtwistle (in order of diminishing unfamiliarity. . .)

[chadfeldheimer]

You have to be an expert to judge this, what I'm not. Nevertheless here are some additions to the excellent lists from ritter (I admire Stockhausen - Trans too!) and North Star.

B.A. Zimmermann - Cello Concerto II (if concertos are included)
Boulez - Repons
Strauß - Metamorphosen
Shostokovich - 15th Symphony
Stockhausen - Inori
Schnittke - Viola Concerto (again, if concertos are included), Symphony No. 8
Lachenmann - Kontrakadenz
Carter - Double Concerto for piano, harpsichord and 2 chamber orchestras (if concertos ...)
Messiaen - Des canyons aux étoiles...
Gubaidulina - Stimmen... Verstummen...
Ligeti - Violin Concerto, Piano Concerto (if ...)

[North Star]

You have to be an expert to judge this, what I'm not. Nevertheless here are some additions to the excellent lists from ritter (I admire Stockhausen - Trans too!) and North Star.

Boulez - Repons
Strauß - Metamorphosen
Shostokovich - 15th Symphony
Schnittke - Viola Concerto (again, if concertos are included), Symphony No. 8
Carter - Double Concerto for piano, harpsichord and 2 chamber orchestras (if concertos ...)
Messiaen - Des canyons aux étoiles…
Gubaidulina - Stimmen... Verstummen...
Ligeti - Violin Concerto, Piano Concerto (if ...)

Excellent additions, some of which I would have included if I remembered them.
And add Gubaidulina's Offertorium, Dutilleux's cello & violin concertos, Pärt's Tabula Rasa, the wind concertos of Carter, Takemitsu's String Around Autumn & From Me Flows What You Call Time to the 'if concertos' list. And Aho's Clarinet Concerto.

[ritter]

...
Stockhausen - Inori
...

Great to see Inori appear here, Chad. Fascinating piece--even if you can't see the soloist(s) in an audio recording  ...

Cheers,

[chadfeldheimer]

Excellent additions, some of which I would have included if I remembered them.
And add Gubaidulina's Offertorium, Dutilleux's cello & violin concertos, Pärt's Tabula Rasa, the wind concertos of Carter, Takemitsu's String Around Autumn & From Me Flows What You Call Time to the 'if concertos' list.

Thank's. I would have included Tabula Rasa, Offertorium, Dutilleux cello concerto if I had remembered them . Also I forgot Grisey's "Espaces Acoustiques", Zimmermann's "Musique pour les soupers du Roi Ubu" and probably 10 others.

[chadfeldheimer]

Great to see Inori appear here, Chad. Fascinating piece--even if you can't see the soloist(s) in an audio recording  ...

Cheers,

How did you know I never saw the stage action belonging to the piece, neither live nor on video? Good that Stockhausen made sure that the music can stand alone, without visuals so well.

[Christo]

I'm noticing we have a pretty good 'canon' for our time, don't we? ..

I doubt it. There's hardly a canon yet, except in case we really believe in the old story of normative Modernism solely. Where all kinds of equally modern schools (from Neoclassical and Expressionist to Neo-Romantics and even more contemporary tendencies that we could label as Postmodern) come with equally legitimate claims to our attention. My own very incomplete list would include some major orchestral compositions by names sometimes mentioned here before:
Holmboe
Shostakovich
Dutilleux
Messiaen perhaps
Ginastera
Schnittke
Gubaidulina
Lutosławski
Penderecki
Pärt
Rautavaara
Aho
Arnold
Kinsella
Vasks

[Brian]

(assuming no primarily choral/vocal works unless they're called "symphonies")

Shostakovich - Symphonies 9-11, 13-15; all string concertos
Lutoslawski - Concerto for Orchestra
Weinberg - Cello concerto
Prokofiev - Symphonies 6-7
Rouse - Flute concerto
Strauss - Metamorphosen, Four Last Songs, Oboe concerto
Martinu - Symphony No. 6, Oboe concerto
Adams - Harmonielehre
Rota - The Godfather
Herrmann - Vertigo
Bernstein - On the Waterfront

Rautavaara, Aho, Tubin, Part, Vasks, Holmboe, Penderecki - various/numerous works

[EigenUser]

Hmmm... Difficult to say without including personal tastes.

1. Definitely Messiaen's Turangalila-Symphonie, no doubt.
2. Stockhausen's Gruppen, like it or not.
3. Boulez's Repons, perhaps?
4. I'd really like to include Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, but I don't know if that can quite count as orchestral...
5. Ligeti's Piano Concerto probably highlights his most innovative writing, but Atmospheres is really a breakthrough piece. I'd go with the latter if I had to pick one.
6. Stravinsky's Agon
7. Dare I suggest Ades' Asyla?

[amw]

Being completely objective

Berio: Sinfonia
Birtwistle: Earth dances
Carter: Concerto for orchestra
Stockhausen: Gruppen
Stravinsky: Agon

Dutilleux: Timbres, Espace, Mouvement
Ligeti: Lontano, Atmosphères
Lutosławski: Symphony no. 3
Messiaen: Turangalîla-symphonie, Chronochromie
Penderecki: Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima
Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten
Scelsi: Uaxuctum, Natura renovatur
Takemitsu: A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden
Xenakis: Metastaseis

Strauß - Metamorphosen
Shostakovich - 15th Symphony
Lachenmann - Kontrakadenz
Carter - Double Concerto for piano, harpsichord and 2 chamber orchestras (if concertos ...)

Grisey's "Espaces Acoustiques"
Zimmermann's "Musique pour les soupers du Roi Ubu"

Schnittke
Rautavaara
Arnold
Vasks

Shostakovich - Symphonies 10 & 14
Prokofiev - Symphonies 6-7
Adams - Harmonielehre
Rota - The Godfather
Herrmann - Vertigo
Bernstein - On the Waterfront

Barraqué - Concerto
Cage - Seventy-Four, Concert for Piano and Orchestra
Feldman - Coptic Light
Glass - 'Heroes' & 'Low' Symphonies
Rochberg - Violin Concerto
Mahler/Cooke et al. - Symphony No. 10
Gorecki - Symphony of Sorrowful Songs
Boulez - Pli selon pli

etc

[vandermolen]

Kinsella: Symphony 3,4,6,7
Vasks: Symphony 2
Rautavaara:Symphony 8
Pettersson: Symphony 7
Holmboe: Symphony 8
Norgard: Symphony 1
Rubbra: Symphony 7 and 10
Arnold: Symphony 6
Kokkonen: Symphony 4
Honegger : Symphony 5
Eshpai: Symphony 4
Rosenberg: Symphony 6

[North Star]

Kinsella
Vasks
Rautavaara
Pettersson
Holmboe
Norgard
Rubbra
Arnold
Kokkonen

You could be more specific

[vandermolen]

You could be more specific

Yes, I see what you mean! 

Have now amended my earlier post. 

[Mr Bloom]

Do we include concertante work or only purely orchestral works ? And what about orchestra with chorus and orchestra with electronic ?

[vandermolen]

Barraqué - Concerto
Cage - Seventy-Four, Concert for Piano and Orchestra
Feldman - Coptic Light
Glass - 'Heroes' & 'Low' Symphonies
Rochberg - Violin Concerto
Mahler/Cooke et al. - Symphony No. 10
Gorecki - Symphony of Sorrowful Songs
Boulez - Pli selon pli

etc

I like the Gorecki and Glass choices.

[ritter]

Do we include concertante work or only purely orchestral works ? And what about orchestra with chorus and orchestra with electronic ?

I've included works with voices (Sinfonia, Atlantis) and with electronics (Répons, Speakings)...haven't been told off by the author of the OP as of yet   

I like the Gorecki and Glass choices.

I don't...