10 favourite American composers

[vandermolen]

Ah okay, very cool. Ruggles is definitely worth your time as he composed in a highly individual, craggy style. He composed very little, but his works for orchestra are American musical monuments IMHO. There's a set with MTT conducting all of Ruggles' works with the Buffalo Philharmonic, but I think this set may be sadly OOP. I picked it up when it was released several years ago.

Thanks John - I think that set is now a billion pounds online so I'll stick with the great 'Sun-Treader' for now. 

[Mirror Image]

Thanks John - I think that set is now a billion pounds online so I'll stick with the great 'Sun-Treader' for now. 

Yep, this is what I thought. I don't understand really why it went OOP so quickly unless it was some kind of limited pressing.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I would've thought that Wuorinen would be right down your alley, TFA

[North Star]

.....never even heard of him! 

Damn!  Listen to this before Karl sees that. 0:)
https://www.youtube.com/v/v_q5qTUo8gI

[Monsieur Croche]

[Charles Wuorinen} .....never even heard of him! 

Damn!  Listen to this before Karl sees that. 0:)
https://www.youtube.com/v/v_q5qTUo8gI

Lol! "before Karl sees that."

... while you're at it, pop this in your ears, too.
https://www.youtube.com/v/yAyvk050LX4

[North Star]

.....never even heard of him! 

And, here's his thread.

[Karl Henning]

;^)

[Mirror Image]

I'm ashamed that I never checked out Wuorinen's music either.

[Ken B]

There's a surprising number of good choices, but few that really stand out. However a couple of names on my list are not on any of the others here.

In no order
Glass, Copland, Kern, Virgil Thomson, Partch, Harrison, Gershwin, Adams, Barber, Piston.

Partch and Adams are the iffy ones.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

There's a surprising number of good choices, but few that really stand out. However a couple of names on my list are not on any of the others here.

In no order
Glass, Copland, Kern, Virgil Thomson, Partch, Harrison, Gershwin, Adams, Barber, Piston.

Partch and Adams are the iffy ones.

Cool list, but I'm interested to know why you deem Partch and Adams as Iffy.

[Mirror Image]

Cool list, but I'm interested to know why you deem Partch and Adams as Iffy.

I don't know Partch's work, but Adams is one of the most overrated American composers along with Philip Glass IMHO.

[Daverz]

Diamond
Sessions
Piston
Copland
Bloch
Barber
Feldman
Adams
Glass
Ives

I ended up having to leave off

Lees
Antheil
Foss
Schuman
Flagello
Rosner
Helps
Randall Thompson
Creston
Cowell
Rzewski
Hanson
Crumb

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Since this is somewhat related: Although it doesn't include my favorite American composers, except for Cage Carter (who'd sneak in at No.10).

Classical CD Of The Week: America! From "Maryland, My Maryland" To John Cage

http://bit.ly/CDoftheWeek49

This breathed some life into the thread; nice.

I'll try my hands at a list. I don't mind including immigrants (i.e. Lukas Foss or Walter Arlen) precisely because that is so very American.
Only those that I decidedly don't consider American (an entirely subjective and personal decision: i.e. Korngold, Krenek...) are not considered.

Definitely:

Diamond
Ives
Bloch (He doesn't quite feel like an American composer to me, but heck... if I include Grainger further down...    )

Probably:

John Adams
George Antheil
George Rochberg
Dominick Argento
Frederic "Commie" Rzewski
Percy Grainger (if you count him, as he would have himself, an American)

Maybe:

Kenneth Fuchs
John Corigliano
Benjamin C.S. Boyle
Richard Danielpour
Elliot Carter
Stephen Albert
Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Peter Lieberson
Morten Lauridsen

Must get to know better:

Sessions, Piston, Foss, Flagello, Gould, Harris, Steven Gerber, Arthur Foote, Crumb, Jaffe, Lowell Lieberman, Schuman, Thomson (V.), Wuorinen

Perhaps not:
Alan Hovhaness, Jennifer Higdon, Libby Larsen, Gloria Coates, Bright Sheng, Joan Tower, Zwillich

Decidedly not:

Bernstein, Hoiby, Ferneyhough, Sousa,

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Percy Grainger American? Bah!

[vandermolen]

Today's list:

Bloch (Swiss/American)
Korngold (for his Symphony)
Copland
Diamond
Harris
Schuman (especially for symphs. 6 and 3)
Bernstein (for 'Jeremiah' and I'm increasingly like the Symphony 2 'The Age of Anxiety'.
Hanson
Ives
Antheil

Annoyed at leaving off Piston, with his great Second Symphony, Hovhaness, Kurka, Lo Presti and Creston, whose Second Symphony I like very much.

[Ken B]

Cool list, but I'm interested to know why you deem Partch and Adams as Iffy.

Others might bump them off the list some days, the others are more secure. Both wrote some great music, but not a lot of it. Adams has been a note spinner for a long time now. Partch was never that, but not all his ideas were that good. Others who might be close to the top 10 are Reich, Diamond, Bernstein.

[Mirror Image]

I suppose I should update my list:

Ives
Copland
Barber
Diamond
Schuman
Crawford Seeger
Ruggles
Harrison
Bernstein
Hanson

[Ken B]

Albert wrote two splendid symphonies. I don't know much else by him. Rorem deserves a mention as does Rochberg.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Others might bump them off the list some days, the others are more secure. Both wrote some great music, but not a lot of it. Adams has been a note spinner for a long time now. Partch was never that, but not all his ideas were that good. Others who might be close to the top 10 are Reich, Diamond, Bernstein.

Ah I see! And I certainly agree.

[Karl Henning]

... Both wrote some great music, but not a lot of it. Adams has been a note spinner for a long time now. Partch was never that, but not all his ideas were that good.

I think this fair.