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The Music Room => General Classical Music Discussion => The Polling Station => Topic started by: bwv 1080 on July 09, 2018, 06:22:54 AM

Title: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: bwv 1080 on July 09, 2018, 06:22:54 AM
defined as favorite based on works composed after 1950

Boulez
Carter
Dutilleaux
Ferneyhough
Henze
Ligeti
Lutoslawski
Messiaen
Schnittke
Takemitsu
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Archaic Torso of Apollo on July 09, 2018, 06:35:57 AM
Carter
Ligeti
Lutoslawski
Shostakovich (mainly for the string quartets)
Messiaen
Xenakis
Martinu (his best decade)
Pettersson
Norgard
Berio


Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Daverz on July 09, 2018, 02:45:32 PM
Ginastera
Mieczysław Weinberg
Arnold
Dutilleux
Aho
Adams
Rautavaara
Panufnik
Feldman
Paul Moravec
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Sergeant Rock on July 09, 2018, 03:10:17 PM
Havergal Brian
George Lloyd
Vaughan Williams
Arnold
Tippett
Shostakovich
Pettersson
Bernstein
Schnittke
Kats-Chernin
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: San Antone on July 09, 2018, 04:20:12 PM
Carter
Cage
Stravinsky
Lachenmann
Dusapin
Kurtag
Stockhausen
Wuorinen
Sciarrino
Boulez
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: vandermolen on July 11, 2018, 04:24:59 AM
Vaughan Williams (symphonies 8 and 9 for example)
Shostakovich
Martinu
Pettersson
George Lloyd
Malcolm Williamson
Honegger (Symphony 5)
Alwyn
Arnold
Rubbra
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Archaic Torso of Apollo on July 11, 2018, 05:34:12 AM
I see that 3 people have named Malcolm Arnold. If I had an 11th, he might be it - or I might give it to another of those "tonal symphonist" guys (like Rubbra, Holmboe or Simpson).
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Christo on July 11, 2018, 06:31:46 AM
later Vaughan Williams, but younger are:
Dmitri Shostakovich
Bohuslav Martinů
Vagn Holmboe
William Alwyn
Leonard Bernstein
Malcolm Arnold
Alberto Ginastera
Camargo Guarnieri
Arvo Pärt
Veljo Tormis



Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: amw on July 12, 2018, 01:29:24 AM
John Cage
Luc Ferrari
Heinz Holliger
Rebecca Saunders
Salvatore Sciarrino
Horațiu Rădulescu
Galina Ustvolskaya
Chaya Czernowin
Witold Lutosławski
Roland Kayn
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Chronochromie on July 12, 2018, 03:17:11 PM
Messiaen
Ligeti
Xenakis
Grisey
Sciarrino
L. Andriessen
Reich
Lutoslawski
Murail
Dutilleaux
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: kyjo on July 12, 2018, 07:36:19 PM
I echo vandermolen's and Christo's choices.  :)
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: vandermolen on July 14, 2018, 01:29:11 AM
Quote from: kyjo on July 12, 2018, 07:36:19 PM
I echo vandermolen's and Christo's choices.  :)

I echo Christo's choices too Kyle  :)

Although I'm not so familiar with Ginastera and Tormis.
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: ritter on July 15, 2018, 06:55:22 AM
In alphabetical order:

Luciano Berio
Pierre Boulez
Elliott Carter
Alberto Ginastera
Cristóbal Halffter
Ernst Krenek
Bruno Maderna
Olivier Messiaen
Luigi Nono
Igor Stravinsky
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Ainsi la nuit on July 15, 2018, 01:45:07 PM
At the moment the list looks like this, probably:

Boulez
Carter
Dutilleux
Gubaidulina
Kurtág
Ligeti
Lutosławski
Messiaen
Shostakovich (I love his late works the most)
Zimmermann
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Maestro267 on July 16, 2018, 10:05:50 AM
Penderecki
Bernstein
MacMillan
Arnold
Shostakovich
Corigliano
Ginastera
Schnittke
Mathias
Daugherty
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: North Star on July 16, 2018, 10:38:44 AM
Boulez
Britten
Dutilleux
Holmboe
Kurtág

Ligeti
Schnittke
Shostakovich
Stravinsky
Tippett

Leaving Martinu & Villa-Lobos off on the excuse that they didn't survive the 50s. Lutoslawski is just out.
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Mahlerian on July 16, 2018, 11:00:48 AM
Berio
Boulez
Carter
Chin
Hosokawa
Kurtag
Ligeti
Messiaen
Stravinsky
Takemitsu
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: schnittkease on July 23, 2018, 05:25:05 PM
Berio
Carter
Gubaidulina
Ligeti
Messiaen
Reich
Schnittke
Sciarrino
Lutosławski
Nono

Grisey and GF Haas get an honorable mention.
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Trout on July 23, 2018, 07:32:00 PM
Boulez
Dhomont
Glass
Kurtág
Ligeti
Messiaen
Reich
Saariaho
Schnittke
Vasks

Others I considered: JL Adams, Murail, Chin, Romitelli, GF Haas, Nono, Berio, Takemitsu, Gubaidulina.
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Overtones on October 25, 2018, 06:20:41 AM
Alfred Šnitke
Giya Kancheli
Arvo Pärt
Dmitrij Šostakovič
György Ligeti
Henryk Górecki
Olivier Messiaen
Iannis Xenakis
Krzysztof Penderecki
Unsuk Chin
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: some guy on January 23, 2019, 02:53:55 AM
Not a big fan of zero discussion threads, but since there did seem to be quite a lot of the same names from list to list, and a lot of people who just barely made it into the fifties, I thought I would make a list of my own, consisting entirely of composers not yet mentioned. I did not succeed, but there are so many really wonderful composers here, I offer this list, anyway:

Maryanne Amacher
Michèle Bokanowski
Christian Calon
Iancu Dumitrescu
eRikm
Beatriz Ferreyra
Emmanuelle Gibello
Jonty Harrison
Toshi Ichyanagi
Elsa Justel
Zbigniew Karkowski
Francisco López
Francisco Meirino
Andrea Neumann
Bob Ostertag
Bernard Parmegiani
Israel Quellet
Eliane Radigue
Michael Schumacher
Doug Theriault
Galina Ustvolskaya
Giovanni Verrando
John Wiese
Iannis Xenakis
Otomo Yoshihide
Christian Zanézi

:)





Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Cato on January 23, 2019, 03:26:46 AM
Quote from: some guy on January 23, 2019, 02:53:55 AM
Not a big fan of zero discussion threads, but since there did seem to be quite a lot of the same names from list to list, and a lot of people who just barely made it into the fifties, I thought I would make a list of my own, consisting entirely of composers not yet mentioned. I did not succeed, but there are so many really wonderful composers here, I offer this list, anyway:

Maryanne Amacher
Michèle Bokanowski
Christian Calon
Iancu Dumitrescu
eRikm
Beatriz Ferreyra
Emmanuelle Gibello
Jonty Harrison
Toshi Ichyanagi
Elsa Justel
Zbigniew Karkowski
Francisco López
Francisco Meirino
Andrea Neumann
Bob Ostertag
Bernard Parmegiani
Israel Quellet
Eliane Radigue
Michael Schumacher
Doug Theriault
Galina Ustvolskaya
Giovanni Verrando
John Wiese
Iannis Xenakis
Otomo Yoshihide
Christian Zanézi

:)


First one who came to mind: our own Karl Henning.

https://www.youtube.com/v/H1GX6gAmom8



Also Lera Auerbach:

https://www.youtube.com/v/rpRr-tTEpfw
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: amw on January 23, 2019, 06:55:10 AM
Quote from: some guy on January 23, 2019, 02:53:55 AM
Not a big fan of zero discussion threads, but since there did seem to be quite a lot of the same names from list to list, and a lot of people who just barely made it into the fifties, I thought I would make a list of my own, consisting entirely of composers not yet mentioned. I did not succeed, but there are so many really wonderful composers here, I offer this list, anyway:
I appreciate the alphabetisation!

It's not hard to pick out my personal favourites, but putting together a full list of recommendations would be a challenge. There's a lot of good music out there.

My personal short list would contain some of the following names:
Oren Ambarchi
Mark Andre
Georges Aperghis
Ana-Maria Avram
Malin Bång
Natasha Barrett
Richard Barrett
Luciano Berio
Christophe Bertrand
Pierluigi Billone
Olivia Block
Pierre Boulez
Anthony Braxton
Sylvano Bussotti
John Cage
Cornelius Cardew
Aaron Cassidy
Niccolò Castiglioni
Aldo Clementi
Alvin Curran
Chaya Czernowin
Nguyen-Thien Dao
Chris Dench
Frank Denyer
James Dillon
Milica Djordjević
Franco Donatoni
Hugues Dufourt
Julius Eastman
Peter Eötvös
Ahmed Essyad
Franco Evangelisti

...and that's only the first 5 letters of the alphabet..... honestly would be much easier to prepare sub-lists of composers by genre, medium, or whatever.
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: some guy on January 24, 2019, 02:02:12 AM
And thank you, amw, for posting some names that are unfamiliar to me.

Not that easy to do, if all your names are people who write new music. :D

(I'm going to start with Milica Djordjević, partly because my knowledge of Serbian composers is practically zero.)
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: schnittkease on January 24, 2019, 05:55:16 AM
Interesting. I know Frank Denyer from his amazing Ustvolskaya cycle, but didn't know he was a composer as well.
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: amw on January 24, 2019, 06:15:54 AM
If y'all want my recommendations for F thru Z they are ready to go anytime <.<

Quote from: some guy on January 24, 2019, 02:02:12 AM
And thank you, amw, for posting some names that are unfamiliar to me.

Not that easy to do, if all your names are people who write new music. :D
I think we have somewhat different tastes, I'm less into electro & generally keep much better track of people who do composed music. Not that there aren't some improvisers, sound artists, etc who I believe everyone interested in post-1950 music should hear at least to form an opinion, of course. But I am pretty sensitive to sound and get migraines so I'm always a bit wary of heading out to the Audio Foundation (http://www.audiofoundation.org.nz/) lol
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: some guy on January 24, 2019, 07:45:34 AM
Somewhat. Lots of overlap, though.

And, just for the record, I am "into" electro because I'm sensitive to sound. :)

I do want to see F through Z. Pretty sure you already knew that!
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: amw on January 25, 2019, 05:13:19 AM
I do enjoy it, but when attending live concerts can result in me being in a significant amount of pain for some time afterwards (& this isn't limited to electro, it's anything involving amplification or high volume—the first time I remember getting a migraine from music was at a performance of the Shostakovich 11th Symphony where I guess we were seated too close to the percussion)

Anyway:

Jean-Luc Fafchamps
Morton Feldman
Brian Ferneyhough
Luc Ferrari (personal top 3 post-1950)
Michael Finnissy
Christopher Fox
Luca Francesconi
Mamoru Fujieda
Ellen Fullman
Beat Furrer
Clemens Gadenstätter
Roberto Gerhard
Stefano Gervasoni
Rune Glerup—also one of my favourite composer names
Heiner Goebbels
Karel Goeyvaerts
Annie Gosfield
Gérard Grisey
Francisco Guerrero (not the 16th century one)
Jean-Pierre Guézec
Cristóbal Halffter
Bryn Harrison
Jonty Harrison
Lou Harrison (some of these guys should have considered a new surname)
Hans Werner Henze
Hans-Joachim Hespos
Rolf Hind (another pianist-composer)
Noriko Hisada
Wieland Hoban
Heinz Holliger (also personal top 3 post-1950)
Vagn Holmboe
Jexper Holmen
Adriana Hölszky
Klaus K. Hübler
Clara Iannotta
Kristian Ireland
Zoltán Jeney
Pierre Jodlowski
Evan Johnson
Ben Johnston
André Jolivet
Mauricio Kagel.... sometimes
Dominik Karski
Roland Kayn
Wilhelm Killmayer
Jo Kondo
Włodżimierz Kotoński
Dmitri Kourliandski
Zygmunt Krauze
Ernst Krenek
Hanna Kulenty
György Kurtág
Yannis Kyriakides
Helmut Lachenmann
René Leibowitz
Kenneth Leighton
Georges Lentz
George Lewis (not the New Orleans bandleader, but also a jazzer)
György Ligeti
Liza Lim (maybe top 4?)
Annea Lockwood
Francisco López, already mentioned above by some guy
Alvin Lucier
Witold Lutosławski
José Maceda
François-Bernard Mâche
Bruno Maderna
Bruno Mantovani (not the guy with his own orchestra)
Tomás Marco
Benedict Mason
Timothy McCormack
Olivier Messiaen
Brunhild Meyer-Ferrari
Costin Miereanu
Wolfgang Mitterer
Ole-Henrik Moe
Ikue Mori
Isabel Mundry
Tristan Murail
Paweł Mykietyn
Conlon Nancarrow
Olga Neuwirth
Chris Newman
Ştefan Niculescu
Luigi Nono
Arne Nordheim (possibly my favourite of the "Nørdic" group of composers that also includes Nørgård, Nordgren, Nørholm, Nordstrom & maybe others I don't know about)
Maurice Ohana
Pauline Oliveros
Else Marie Pade
Åke Parmerud
Brice Pauset
Gérard Pesson
Goffredo Petrassi
Michael Pisaro
Enno Poppe
Henri Pousseur
Dick Raaijmakers
Éliane Radigue
Horațiu Rădulescu
Maja S.K. Ratkje (I have no idea what the S.K. stands for)
Roger Reynolds
Rolf Riehm
Jean-Claude Risset
Fausto Romitelli
Lucia Ronchetti
Vanessa Rossetto
Poul Ruders
Rebecca Saunders
Steffen Schleiermacher
Dieter Schnebel
Salvatore Sciarrino (top 5?)
Stefano Scodanibbio
Kazimierz Serocki
Roger Sessions
Howard Skempton
Denis Smalley
Bent Sørensen
Mathias Spahlinger
Simon Steen-Andersen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Marco Stroppa
Chiyoko Szlavnics
James Tenney
Anna Thorvaldsdottir
Jukka Tiensuu
Tôn-Thất Tiết
Michael Tippett
Jakob Ullmann
Galina Ustvolskaya
Claude Vivier
Matthew Waldron (who records as "irr. app. (ext.)")
Rolf Wallin
Jennifer Walshe
James Weeks
Stefan Węgłowski
Mieczysław Weinberg
Christian Wolff
Iannis Xenakis
La Monte Young
Isang Yun
Bernd Alois Zimmermann
John Zorn
Agata Zubel

All from ordering my iTunes library by composer and picking the names that stand out to me as exceptional. Some have little recorded presence though. I'm also open to recommend specific pieces.
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: some guy on January 26, 2019, 04:29:55 AM
Those are some fine people, there.

I'll do the same as before, get going on the names I don't know. :)

That is a seriously great list of really lovely composers. And you know how I usually deprecate lists. Hmmm. Maybe it's not lists, as such....
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Rinaldo on January 26, 2019, 04:48:13 AM
Lots of worthy picks but the names I'm missing are Dobrinka Tabakova, Caroline Shaw and Anna Clyne
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: some guy on January 26, 2019, 08:13:17 AM
Quote from: Rinaldo on January 26, 2019, 04:48:13 AM
Lots of worthy picks but the names I'm missing are Dobrinka Tabakova, Caroline Shaw and Anna Clyne
That's why we have more than one member.

I've liked Anna's music for many years now. She's pretty cool, too.
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Mirror Image on January 27, 2019, 05:02:46 PM
Quote from: Rinaldo on January 26, 2019, 04:48:13 AM
Lots of worthy picks but the names I'm missing are Dobrinka Tabakova, Caroline Shaw and Anna Clyne

I'm still wondering what the hell is going on with Tabakova and ECM Records? Her recording String Paths received universal acclaim and was also nominated for a Grammy Award (not that this means much these days given the current musical climate we all inhabit), but this was six years ago. I still believe that her Cello Concerto is one of the best newer works to be recorded in a long time. This work is accessible (without ever dumbing down to achieve mass appeal), emotional, deeply moving, and fiery passionate. It certainly is a piece with a lot of heart. It's just too bad we can't hear more of her music.
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: schnittkease on January 28, 2019, 01:40:23 PM
Tabakova seems not to have written anything major since 2013 -- only a few small choral works.
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Mirror Image on January 28, 2019, 01:45:31 PM
Quote from: schnittkease on January 28, 2019, 01:40:23 PM
Tabakova seems not to have written anything major since 2013 -- only a few small choral works.

Interesting. I hope the muse hasn't left her too early. :-\
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Ken B on January 28, 2019, 05:54:04 PM
In no particular order except the first two

Shostakovich
Nyman

Britten
Simpson
Glass
Reich
Ten Holt
Sondheim
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: San Antone on January 28, 2019, 06:06:43 PM
Most of the names I would suggest have already been named.  Although a few have not:

Krzysztof Meyer
Osvaldo Golijov
Francis Dhomont
Bernard Parmegiani
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Mirror Image on January 28, 2019, 06:15:02 PM
Let's see if I can assemble a list (in no particular order):

Takemitsu
Lutosławski
Schnittke
Scelsi
Kurtág
Ligeti
Silvestrov
Pärt
Xenakis
Górecki

I feel kind of bad for leaving off Lou Harrison, John Luther Adams, and I didn't choose composers like Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Barber, Copland, or Britten, for example, for the simple fact that I don't really feel that their aesthetic is much a part of the 1960s through our present time. They represent an older generation that came to prominence in the early half of the 20th Century (with some notable exceptions with several of these composers' works getting recognition in the mid-30s and around WWII and, in Stravinsky's, case in the 1910s since he was much older than Shostakovich, Barber, Copland, etc.).
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Ken B on January 29, 2019, 04:33:43 PM
Quote from: Mirror Image on January 28, 2019, 06:15:02 PM
Let's see if I can assemble a list (in no particular order):

Takemitsu
Lutosławski
Schnittke
Scelsi
Kurtág
Ligeti
Silvestrov
Pärt
Xenakis
Górecki

I feel kind of bad for leaving off Lou Harrison, John Luther Adams, and I didn't choose composers like Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Barber, Copland, or Britten, for example, for the simple fact that I don't really feel that their aesthetic is much a part of the 1960s through our present time. They represent an older generation that came to prominence in the early half of the 20th Century (with some notable exceptions with several of these composers' works getting recognition in the mid-30s and around WWII and, in Stravinsky's, case in the 1910s since he was much older than Shostakovich, Barber, Copland, etc.).

I knew you would kick Shostakovich to the curb one day John! Today is that day.

Late symphonies, most quartets, concerti, late song cycles, preludes and fugues all 1950 or later.
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Mirror Image on January 29, 2019, 07:15:03 PM
Quote from: Ken B on January 29, 2019, 04:33:43 PM
I knew you would kick Shostakovich to the curb one day John! Today is that day.

Late symphonies, most quartets, concerti, late song cycles, preludes and fugues all 1950 or later.

Shostakovich is one of my favorite composers and no one kicked anyone to the curb. I explained the reason for my choices.
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: SymphonicAddict on January 31, 2019, 06:21:46 PM
In my case:

Schnittke
Simpson
Penderecki
Pettersson
Lloyd
Englund
Vasks
Arnold
Lutoslawski
Holmboe

Pärt, John Coolidge Adams and Rautavaara would be the the next candidates.
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: JBS on January 31, 2019, 06:36:11 PM
In no particular order
Part
Ligeti
Carter
Roberto Sierra
John Adams
Corigliano
Boulez
Henning
Xenakis
Arnold

Xenakis is more a composer I "like what he does" than a composer I like (does that make sense?)


Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: some guy on February 15, 2019, 08:03:45 AM
The females are weighing in at less than 10%, which is slightly* less than their actual contributions.

Pauline Oliveros
Maryanne Amacher
Christina Kubisch
Michèle Bokanowski
Alice Shields
Beatriz Ferreyra
Andrea Neumann
Sachiko M
Katsura Mouri
Natasha Barrett
Agata Zubel
Christine Groult
Carola Bauckholt
Anna Clyne
Lidia Zielińska
Elsa Justel
Suzanne Dycus-Gendreau
Iris ter Schiphorst
Brunhild Ferrari
Ana-Maria Avram
Gráinne Mulvey
Françoise Barrière
Zeena Parkins
Diamanda Galas
Katarzyna Glowicka
Annie Gosfield
Eliane Radigue
Hilda Westerkamp
Monique Jean
Annette Vande Gorne
Elainie Lillios
Roxanne Turcotte
Lucie Vítková

OK, that's my attempt to get that percentage slightly more balanced.

*sarcasm
Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: Overtones on January 19, 2020, 04:24:52 AM
I once interviewed Andrea Neumann for an Italian webzine: she's a very kind and intelligent person.

Title: Re: Top 10 post 1950 composers
Post by: steve ridgway on January 19, 2020, 09:44:13 AM
I haven't heard enough to do an informed list but am encouraged that most of those I listen to appear in somebody's top ten. Apart from Harrison Birtwistle and George Crumb - are they not generally regarded as highly?