Which composer is the most refreshing?

[Bogey]

Copland. 

[hornteacher]

Copland. 

I'll second that.

Just listen to "Grovers Corners" from Our Town or "Down A Country Lane".

[Que]

Biber.

Q

[PerfectWagnerite]

Copland. 

Yes, and Sibelius, especially the 6th symphony.

[Heather Harrison]

At the moment, Charles Ives comes to mind.  His work is unique, unusual, and entertaining.  If I'm feeling a bit bored, jaded, or just plain lazy, I can count on him to jolt me out of my malaise.

Heather

[Symphonien]

Stravinsky.

[Ten thumbs]

Nielsen, Sibelius, Norgard.... runners-up for me 
the second runner-up, right before Bartok would be Prokofiev and after him, my list would definetely include Henze, Gorecki, and Glass...

Maybe there's a Northern influence here somewhere because the first composer who came to mind was Berwald.

[greg]

Maybe there's a Northern influence here somewhere because the first composer who came to mind was Berwald.

I thought of something 2 days ago..... most of the composers mentioned on this thread tend to be a bit isolated...... notice the lack of German composers. Ives, Sibelius, Bartok, Nielsen..... i guess there aren't too many famous composers associated with them compared to, say, the Schumann-Brahms-Strauss-Beethoven-Dvorak etc. group...