Earlier vs. later works of certain composers: Which do you prefer?

Started by kyjo, June 28, 2021, 08:48:18 PM

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steve ridgway

Quote from: The new erato on June 30, 2021, 01:05:43 PM
That is so right. Totally agree. And I love all those groups. And to Johns point: Crimson was really a lot of different groups so this May not really apply to them. Fripp was on a road of explorstion.

+1. Intuition and inspiration seem to carry successful rock groups for a few years but most struggle to develop beyond that.

DaveF

Quote from: Mirror Image on June 30, 2021, 11:59:21 AM
Not to turn this into a rock music debate (too late!), but I think that there's such variety in King Crimson's discography for example that claiming there's nothing better than In the Court of the Crimson King seems like a strange assertion on your part.

There's a big, implicit In My Opinion in front of my post.  The thread title is, after all, "Which do you prefer?"  What about you and Nielsen, John?
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Madiel

Maybe I'll think more clearly after eating dinner, but right now I'm struggling to think of anyone whose earlier works I prefer. Debussy, maybe Ravel (depending of course on just where we place our mental boundaries).  But most of the time, for composers where I have a preference it's a preference for later works.
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amw

Early works: Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, Krzysztof Penderecki, Morton Feldman, Mieczysław Weinberg, Johannes Brahms, Sergei Prokofiev, William Walton, Pierre Boulez, Richard Strauss, Paul Hindemith

Late works: Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Karol Szymanowski, Igor Stravinsky, Galina Ustvolskaya, Leoš Janáček, Franz Liszt, György Ligeti, Grażyna Bacewicz, George Enescu, Jean Sibelius, Anton Webern

Middle works: Béla Bartók, Joseph Haydn, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Arnold Schoenberg, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Hans Werner Henze, Luciano Berio

I was going to preface this post with something like "I don't usually have strong preferences for one particular period of a composer's work" but I guess that's not completely true after all.

Mirror Image

Quote from: DaveF on June 30, 2021, 10:32:02 PM
There's a big, implicit In My Opinion in front of my post.  The thread title is, after all, "Which do you prefer?"  What about you and Nielsen, John?

Oh, I know it's your opinion, I just wanted to be contrarian voice. :) I like all periods of Nielsen. His later works may have had the greater impact in terms of recognizing that his style evolved, but I love the Helios Overture just as much as An Imaginary Journey to the Faroe Islands. My point is there's something to love and admire in all periods of a composer's oeuvre.

Brian

Quote from: Mirror Image on July 01, 2021, 06:24:11 AM
My point is there's something to love and admire in all periods of a composer's oeuvre.
George Benson might really test the limits of this  ;D

Mirror Image

Quote from: Brian on July 01, 2021, 06:35:48 AM
George Benson might really test the limits of this  ;D

Of course, I'm referring to composers that we already love. ;)

T. D.

Quote from: Brian on July 01, 2021, 06:35:48 AM
George Benson might really test the limits of this  ;D

Or Bob James! Started out in free jazz and avant-garde classical (ONCE at U of Michigan, with Robert Ashley, Gordon Mumma et al.), wound up as an icon of "smooth jazz".

71 dB

Quote from: Mirror Image on June 30, 2021, 11:59:21 AM
I think that there's such variety in King Crimson's discography for example that claiming there's nothing better than In the Court of the Crimson King seems like a strange assertion.

Yep. For me In the Court of the Crimson King is neither a low point nor a high point in King Crimson's output. It is just solid King Crimson for me.
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vandermolen

Quote from: relm1 on June 30, 2021, 06:03:24 AM
Thank you for making my list for me.  But you prefer Novak's early Storm.  I'm split on Tchaikovsky if I consider Swan Lake an early work, because it's so magnificent though otherwise his later are greater.
Yes, you're right about 'The Storm'. However, most sources think that Novak's earlier works are superior to the later ones and I wanted to correct the balance - The Storm is his masterpiece however.
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