10 favourite British Composers

Started by ComposerOfAvantGarde, July 19, 2016, 08:06:15 PM

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North Star

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on October 03, 2017, 10:02:10 AM
I stand pat, here.
How very appropriate word in this thread.  0:)

I'll have to edit my list a bit - mostly to put it in an (alphabetical) order...
Quote from: North Star on July 20, 2016, 12:53:59 AM
Something like this:

Benjamin Britten
Edward Elgar
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Michael Tippett
Gustav Holst
Gerald Finzi
William Byrd
Ronald Stevenson
John Dowland
Michael Finnissy


Benjamin Britten
William Byrd
John Dowland
Edward Elgar
Gustav Holst
John Ireland
Ronald Stevenson
Thomas Tallis
Michael Tippett
Ralph Vaughan Williams
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

SymphonicAddict

Updating, and now in order of preference:

Vaughan Williams
Arnold
Bax
Alwyn
Walton
Rubbra
Stanford
Finzi
Bantock

The 10th place is for one of these: Holst, Lloyd, Britten, Simpson or Moeran. I can't decide!

relm1

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Benjamin Britten
Edward Elgar
Arnold Bax
Derek Bourgeois
John Pickard
Gustav Holst
Michael Tippett
Havergal Brian
William Walton

Honorable Mention:
Grace Williams
George Butterworth
Arthur Butterworth
Edgar Bainton
George Lloyd
Thomas Ades
William Alwyn



Jo498

Purcell
Byrd
Dowland
Gibbons
Tallis
Bull
Morley
Blow
Vaughan Williams
Britten
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Florestan

Ten is too many for me but based on what I've listened to, and loved, over the last two years, I can nominate four in no particular order except the first two:

Ireland
Bowen
Holst
Moeran
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Biffo

Top four (in chronological order only) -

Tallis
Purcell
Elgar
Vaughan Williams

Others (choose any six) , in no order

Delius (only nominally British)
Holst
Walton
Bax
Bridge
Alwyn
Finzi
Arnold
Byrd
Sullivan
Britten

Lots of others I only listen to occasionally

Christo

Third attempt, ever more impossible, yet in an even more impossible order of preference:

Vaughan Williams
Arnold
Holst
Brian
Moeran
Goossens
Bate
Rubbra
Berkeley (père)
Bliss
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

Biffo

Add Moeran & Rubbra to my Others list

André

I thought I had posted a list a few days ago but don't see it. Must have vanished in the ether. Oh well... :D

vandermolen

This evening's list:

Vaughan Williams
Bax
Moeran
Alwyn
Bliss
Walton
Bate
Arnell
Rubbra
Arnold

Should have included Holst and Finzi  ::)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

kyjo

In some sort of order of preference:

Vaughan Williams
Arnold
Lloyd
Walton
Elgar
Bax
Finzi
Moeran
Stanford
Alwyn

With sincere apologies to Holst and Rubbra...
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Christo

Quote from: André on June 30, 2019, 04:21:32 AMI thought I had posted a list a few days ago but don't see it. Must have vanished in the ether. Oh well... :D

Meanwhile, in the British composers thread:

Quote from: SymphonicAddict on June 28, 2019, 05:50:23 PMI guess you intended to post it on the Polling Station, didn't you?  :P

Quote from: André on June 28, 2019, 05:08:44 PM
Alwyn
Arnold
Delius
Elgar
Jones
Kinsella
Turnage
Vaughan Williams
Walton

In the no 10 spot: Bantock, Bax, Bliss, Holst... :P
8)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

Quote from: Florestan on June 29, 2019, 05:22:29 AM
Ten is too many for me but based on what I've listened to, and loved, over the last two years, I can nominate four in no particular order except the first two:

Ireland
Bowen
Holst
Moeran

Nice list although Bowen remains a bit of a blind spot for me.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

André

Quote from: Christo on June 30, 2019, 09:55:19 PM
Meanwhile, in the British composers thread:
8)

Ha! I must have hopped from one thread to another without really noticing  :P.

Irons

Elgar and Vaughan Williams are for me the two "great" English composers.

Walton is not far behind in the "greatness" stakes.

I love Finzi and Moeran who for me are special.

Holst is quite possibly a better composer then the two above but for me behind them.

No one has mentioned Butterworth, so I will. A sniper's bullet robbed England of a great composer on par with RVW. The few works left by him I enjoy enormously.

Alwyn is most interesting and if he went up my list I wouldn't be surprised.

Bax and Bliss are the terrible twins! Some of their works I enjoy but others I fail to make a connection.

I have missed out Britten!



You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Christo

Quote from: Irons on July 01, 2019, 06:25:38 AM
I have missed out Britten!
Interestingly, the four or five last posters before you didn't mention him either.  ::)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

ritter

Quote from: Christo on July 01, 2019, 09:33:44 AM
Interestingly, the four or five last posters before you didn't mention him either.  ::)
Possibly because they "thought we were talking about composers"  ;).

Symphonic Addict

#118
Let's see...

Vaughan Williams
Arnold
Alwyn
Walton
Bax
Simpson
Rubbra
Kinsella
Elgar
Britten (or instead of him, Tippett or Lloyd)

last edit: right now
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Pohjolas Daughter

#119
Current thoughts from yours truly:

Vaughan Williams - LOVE about 95% of his works  ;D
Elgar - love his cello concerto and enjoy his violin one.  Like his quintet and quartets
Britten - love his cello works and enjoy some of his operas (more for me to explore there)--really love his four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia from Peter Grimes
Purcell - love Dido and Aeneas
Tallis - Tallis and Byrd I don't listen to often but do appreciate their importance in terms of British music history
Byrd - see above
Holst - enjoy the Planets, Egdon Heath and the ballet music from the Perfect Fool
Finzi - love his cello concerto and enjoy his clarinet concerto plus some other pieces
Walton - enjoy his viola concerto; not so much his violin concerto--need to revisit his cello concerto (been ages since I have listened to it)
Who for No. 10?  Maybe a toss up between Butterworth or Bridge...still exploring Moeran; however, my last few times listening to his music didn't do much for me--my fault  I'm sure..maybe an honorable mention for Bernard Stevens?

By the way, where does Handel fit in here?  He's listed in Wiki as a German-British composer who became a naturalized British subject where he spent the bulk of his career.  If he is allowed, he would certainly be in my top 10 list!

PD
Pohjolas Daughter