Which composer would you eliminate from history?

[Madiel]

Stockhausen's greatest asset is his reluctance to have his music widely distributed. By all means, create a monopoly on recordings and make them expensive, it makes them easier to avoid.

[springrite]

We need to keep some composers firmly rooted in history just to have something to laugh at

[Mirror Image]

Just out of my curiosity, what Stockhausen have you actually heard?

I haven't heard much. Gruppen, Helikopter-Streichquartett, and Kontra-Punkte. These are the only ones I can recall at the moment. Frankly, I'm surprised I even listened to three pieces.

[Jo498]

Not even Karl suggested eliminating Bach!

Neither did I. But I think that his influence has sometimes been exaggerated. (Reverence does not necessarily imply influence.)

Although in my examples above I disregarded 20th century music and also organ music (which is a niche but it would obviously foolish to deny that Bach dominates this field almost completely), I still think that there are large areas of important and "mainstream" 18th/19th century music that are not at all (e.g. virtually all opera, most Italian, Russian, Bohemian composers) or not very deeply influenced by JS Bach. These fields are often simply disregarded if one draws lines like "Bach-Beethoven-Brahms-Reger-Schönberg" and the like.

[The new erato]

I would eliminate none except the really boring. Thoough I don't particularly care about Stochausen and find some of Schoenberg too challenging for daily listening, they weren't boring (and boring often is in the eyes of the beholder). I find Stimmung masterly and not boring at all, though it is more minimalistic than much minimalism that I find very boring.

[Wendell_E]

I'd second the Ferde Grofé nomination, but my first thoughts were Franz von Suppé and Franz Lehár. 

[The new erato]

I'd second the Ferde Grofé nomination, but my first thoughts were Franz von Suppé and Franz Lehár.

Suppe is fun (except for his Requiem which is just very fine) and Lehar is downright great. The "Land of Smiles" puts a smile in my heart.

You say potato and I say potato etc....

[Brian]

I'd second the Ferde Grofé nomination, but my first thoughts were Franz von Suppé and Franz Lehár.

Aw man, I don't know what I'd do without Suppé overtures. That was one of my first 2 CD purchases ever.

[The new erato]

Aw man, I don't know what I'd do without Suppé overtures. That was one of my first 2 CD purchases ever.

And think of alle the Looney Tunes cartoons we'd miss!

[(poco) Sforzando]

We need to keep some composers firmly rooted in history just to have something to laugh at

Precisely why I would never eliminate Dittersdorf.

[Cato]

I'd second the Ferde Grofé nomination...

but my first thoughts were Franz von Suppé and Franz Lehár.

Obviously those first thoughts were the whisperings of unclean spirits!   0:)

Suppe is fun (except for his Requiem which is just very fine)

Actually, Ferde Grofe' made me laugh once: the local classical station was playing music so mawkishly awful that I laughed out loud.  Later I discovered it was The Mississippi Suite by Grofe'.

[springrite]

Precisely why I would never eliminate Dittersdorf.

That's the exact person I had in mind!

[(poco) Sforzando]

That's the exact person I had in mind!

Great minds think alike  . . . .

(And please do PM me when you're coming to Philadelphia; I'd really love to meet after all these years!)

[Christo]

Because Bach was there, he was influential but IMO in an often subtle and indirect way.

My unedicated guess would be, that Bach's 'influence' loomed largest in the 20th Century; which is to say, in a mostly indirect way.  Perhaps (I didn't read him, but know that his main interest lies in Modernity) that's what Charles Rosen was referring at.

[Spineur]

I actually did eliminate one composer from my hard disks: Alfred Schnittke
Neurastenic music.  Plus his political militantism which stands for what I dislike.

There is a number of composers I do not care for.  But he is the only one that went to the trash.

[Mirror Image]

Poor ol' Schnittke. I disliked his music too at first, but then it finally clicked with me in a huge way. It's darkly-hued, maniacal stuff for sure, but I suppose that's why I enjoy it so much as there's a bit of that side in me (somewhere). It seems, though, I've been getting away from a lot of post-WWII composers over past year and with good reason: my heart is widening and growing fonder of Romantic music, but my love of Romanticism goes back to the very beginning when I started just getting into classical.

[Florestan]

I actually did eliminate one composer from my hard disks: Alfred Schnittke
Neurastenic music.  Plus his political militantism which stands for what I dislike.

This is intriguing. I had no idea he was a political miltant. What did he stand for?

my love of Romanticism goes back to the very beginning when I started just getting into classical.

Ditto. The very first three works I listened to were Grieg´s PC, Tchaikovsky´s First PC and Chopin´s Polonaise op. 53, in this order.

[Karl Henning]

Some of us cannot help the fact that we live after WWII 

[Ken B]

Some of us cannot help the fact that we live after WWII 

Well, OK this time. But don't do it again.

[Brian]

All this time later, I finally have my answer. Carl Orff.