Title says it all.
You can even pick two: one personal favourite and one most important.
The older you are, the more choices you have.
Can't be a piece you composed. :-)
Only because I heard it live a few weeks ago (by the Curtis Institute 20/21 Ensemble), going to go with Louis Andriessen's Workers Union (1975). Anticipating the concert, I felt like I was about to hear the Eroica, no joke. Andriessen was highly influential to a generation of composers since, and this is one of his most iconic creations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers_Union_(Andriessen)
Runners-up, which I would look forward to with equal enthusiasm:
Wolfgang Rihm: Jagden und Formen (1995-2001)
Frederic Rzewski: De Profundis (1995)
Luciano Berio: Sinfonia (1968)
-Bruce
Shostakovich Symphony No 15.
I'm still considering mine. It will most likely be Shostakovich, but probably not that one (good as it is).
I forgot that one of my favorites, No. 11, is from 1957, so it would just barely qualify. ;D But all of the later ones would make great choices, too.
-Bruce
Interesting question. How do we define "most important" piece? I don't even know if anything written since 1989 has genuinely entered the Core Repertoire of regularly-performed concert works that put bums in seats.
Well, Turangalîla-Symphonie was revised in 1990, so that's my pick in both categories. 😇😎
I don't know. Too difficult question. Makes my brain hurt...
Pärt? Glass? What work?
can one systematically search for compositions in a date range? I am not sufficiently versed in music of the last 50 years to know the dates...
Summa by Arvo Pärt came to mind first (in its different incarnations), with 3 years to spare 0:)
I think probably Britten's War Requiem. Though I'm more than old enough to include DSCH Preludes & Fugues Op.87 !!
(Actually, I was tempted to put the cat among the pigeons by suggesting John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. :-\ )
Some important pieces, things which really fundamentally altered how people understood what music can be, are
Cornelius Cardew's Treatise
Luc Ferrari's Presque Rien
Helmut Lachenmann's Gran Torsso
Trevor Wishart's Red Bird
John Zorn's Goddard/Spillane
Eliane Radigue's Trilogie
Stockhausen's Hymnen
That there are so many is in itself quite interesting.
Easy for me.... :)
Pierre Boulez: Répons (1981-85)
How is importance determined?
This is a very low-brow answer, and says a lot about my ignorance of late 20th century serious music... but if we're talking about the work that has received the most playtime and has provided the most pleasure in my lifetime, then it's not even close for me...
(http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/3a/9b/0f89793509a03b7a23412110.L.jpg)
For me
Britten's War requiem ( deeply impressed after the first live performance)
Penderecki's Saint Luke's passion (idem)
( and, because live concerts: Messiaen 's In expecto , Saint François, Ligeti Requiem)
Quote from: j winter on October 28, 2022, 05:42:33 AM
This is a very low-brow answer, and says a lot about my ignorance of late 20th century serious music... but if we're talking about the work that has received the most playtime and has provided the most pleasure in my lifetime, then it's not even close for me...
(http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/3a/9b/0f89793509a03b7a23412110.L.jpg)
Great answer and this is Johnny's finest.
Favourites on the other hand is a bit easier and a bit more relaxing, without the whole philosophical debate required when importance is brought up. Some of mine:
MacMillan - The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (1990)
Schnittke - Cello Concerto No. 2 (1990)
Lloyd - A Symphonic Mass (1993)
Adés - Asyla (1997)
Penderecki - Piano Concerto (2002)
Norman - Sustain (2018)
Loving all these lists and comments, and making me revise slightly, after being reminded of some of these pieces.
Favorite: Berio Sinfonia. One of my entry points to 20th century music, and brain still lights up whenever it's scheduled on a program.
Most important: Lachenmann Gran Torso. First heard it by an Ensemble Sospeso string quartet years ago, and came away impressed but stumped. What are all these scratching sounds? Changed my life.
-Bruce
Quote from: j winter on October 28, 2022, 05:42:33 AM
This is a very low-brow answer, and says a lot about my ignorance of late 20th century serious music... but if we're talking about the work that has received the most playtime and has provided the most pleasure in my lifetime, then it's not even close for me...
(http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/3a/9b/0f89793509a03b7a23412110.L.jpg)
Why not? It's a great score, from one of the 20th century's masters at film music.
-Bruce
OTOMH, Karl Henning - Out in the Sun and Nuhro.
Quote from: KevinP on October 27, 2022, 02:36:43 PM
Title says it all.
Yes, much more subtle (and more fun) than "How old are you?"
High up on both lists for me, from two composers not yet mentioned:
Stravinsky: Requiem Canticles
Birtwistle:
Earth Dances
Quote from: Todd on October 28, 2022, 05:24:48 AM
How is importance determined?
Yes, I hazarded a definition. The piece is important if it fundamentally altered how some people understood what music can be -- people who are exploring what it means to make new music which is broadly "classical"
I thought of mentioning Glass's Einstein on the Beach, but I think it's importance is really to do with the libretto and Robert Wilson's staging, the sound content is relatively conservative. But I should have included Reich's It's Gonna Rain I think. And I also should have mentioned something by Alvin Lucier possibly -- Sferics maybe. Fluxus composers too.
Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13, which usually carries the unauthorized subtitle of Babi Yar.
I rarely listen to so contemporary music, but it could be:
Penderecki: Symphony No. 3 (1995)
Quote from: Lisztianwagner on October 28, 2022, 10:46:50 AM
I rarely listen to so contemporary music, but it could be:
Penderecki: Symphony No. 3 (1995)
Thank you for reminding me that I want to check out more of his music. :)
My choice: Hildegard von Bingen's
O virga ac diademaPD
One of my favorites is George Crumb's "Ancient Voices of Children," which really impressed me when I first heard it in 1970. Also Corigliano's Symphony No. 1, "Of Rage and Remembrance," written in 1988 in response to the AIDS pandemic. A searing work.
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on October 28, 2022, 10:57:40 AM
My choice: Hildegard von Bingen's O virga ac diadema
You were already born when she composed it? ??? ??? ???
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on October 28, 2022, 10:57:40 AM
My choice: Hildegard von Bingen's O virga ac diadema
Who are you, Galadriel? 😎
Quote from: j winter on October 28, 2022, 05:42:33 AM
This is a very low-brow answer, and says a lot about my ignorance of late 20th century serious music... but if we're talking about the work that has received the most playtime and has provided the most pleasure in my lifetime, then it's not even close for me...
(http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/3a/9b/0f89793509a03b7a23412110.L.jpg)
This is not at all low-brow. An excellent choice!
And speaking of classical music of extraordinary quality written for films during our lifetimes, my choice would be either this (
John Williams' music for
Star Wars: 1977-1983) or
Basil Poledouris' music for
Conan the Barbarian (1982).
As for contemporary opera, my choice would be
Birtwistle's
The Minotaur (2008).
Quote from: pjme on October 28, 2022, 06:00:00 AM
...and, because live concerts...
Speaking of memorable live concerts of contemporary music we have attended, the one that most lingers in my memory is the Austrian premiere of
Tüür's
Sow the wind... (2015), with the composer present. Most contemporary pieces I've heard in concert (quite a lot, apparently, the way they sneak them in programs nowadays!☠️) have proven to be more or less (to be kind) unworthwhile. Not this one.
That concert also included a very fine rendition of
Mozart's
"Jeunehomme" concerto with the late
Lars Vogt and a very loud (and very fine in the quieter moments)
Also sprach Zarathustra.
Wiener Symphoniker under
Paavo Järvi, 22 April 2016.
Quote from: Florestan on October 28, 2022, 08:55:51 PM
You were already born when she composed it? ??? ??? ???
Quote from: Wanderer on October 28, 2022, 09:14:00 PM
Who are you, Galadriel? 😎
;D
I'm hoping that someone here (including you all) knew that I was joking? Although I do love the idea of being Galadriel! :) I'll run with that! 8)
PD
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on October 28, 2022, 11:26:40 PM
;D
I'm hoping that someone here (including you all) knew that I was joking? Although I do love the idea of being Galadriel! :) I'll run with that! 8)
PD
I thought you found a loophole (e.g. because of a recent new edition of the piece). Or, you know, you actually being one of the Eldar. An excellent choice of music, regardless! 😎
Quote from: Todd on October 28, 2022, 05:24:48 AM
How is importance determined?
Up to you, obviously. If you feel your definition needs an explanation, provide one.
Quote from: Mandryka on October 28, 2022, 08:09:54 AM
Yes, I hazarded a definition. The piece is important if it fundamentally altered how some people understood what music can be -- people who are exploring what it means to make new music which is broadly "classical"
I thought of mentioning Glass's Einstein on the Beach, but I think it's importance is really to do with the libretto and Robert Wilson's staging, the sound content is relatively conservative. But I should have included Reich's It's Gonna Rain I think. And I also should have mentioned something by Alvin Lucier possibly -- Sferics maybe. Fluxus composers too.
In terms of seminal influence over subsequent musics including Reich and Glass and huge swathes since - Terry Riley's
In C
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.9
Shostakovich: Symphony No.11 'The Year 1905'
(+1 for Basil Poledouris 'Conan the Barbarian')
Quote from: KevinP on October 29, 2022, 12:36:47 AMUp to you, obviously.
It was not obvious, hence the question. Since there is no meaningful definition, the works or lists will simply reflect personal tastes, as per usual.
Quote from: Todd on October 29, 2022, 03:54:51 AM
It was not obvious, hence the question. Since there is no meaningful definition, the works or lists will simply reflect personal tastes, as per usual.
Not quite, the ones in my list do not reflect my taste in terms of "my favourite" or "music which I enjoy". It maybe reflects a view about aesthetics which I believe is convincing, but that's quite a different matter.
Quote from: AaronSF on October 28, 2022, 02:19:48 PM
One of my favorites is George Crumb's "Ancient Voices of Children," which really impressed me when I first heard it in 1970.
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/A1HIz0IVHdL._SX425_.jpg)
Yes, definitely another contender from the early 1970-ies.
A bit later I heard Crumb's "Star child" ( on the radio - possibly a radio broadcast of the first performance with Boulez???).
The trombone-soprano duet still is a knock out.
The cd recording on Bridge is afaik the only one.
(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/vSYAAOSwpixaoHvD/s-l640.jpg)
Quote from: pjme on October 29, 2022, 06:16:34 AM
A bit later I heard Crumb's "Star child" ( on the radio - possibly a radio broadcast of the first performance with Boulez???).
The trombone-soprano duet still is a knock out.
The cd recording on Bridge is afaik the only one.
(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/vSYAAOSwpixaoHvD/s-l640.jpg)
There's a live Boulez recording from 1977 with the New York Philharmonic that's on the streaming services.
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/615KPSurChL._UX500_FMwebp_QL85_.jpg)
"Star-Child was specifically written for Irene Gubrud (soprano), Pierre Boulez, and the New York Philharmonic, and they all performed the premiere of the piece on May 5, 1977. Boulez, David Gilbert, James Chambers, and Larry Newland conducted the piece. Gubrud, the Boys' Choirs of the Little Church Around the Corner and Trinity School, and the Bell Ringers of Trinity School in New York all sang in the premiere."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star-Child
I'd like to add Kabelac's 'Mystery of Time' (completed in 1957)
I am not well versed in music since the 1970s and it's been a while that I listened to the ones I'll nominate. They are certainly important and I remember them as among the favorites by these composers.
Ligeti: Etudes for piano (1980s)
Carter: A Symphony of three orchestras (1976-77) and/or Symphonia: sum fluxae pretium spei
I discovered Kabelac through his percussionworks as performed by Les percussions de Strasbourg - a concert at the university of Louvain.
The Supraphon /Ancerl LP (later cd) with Mystery of time, Hamlet improvisation and Reflections left a lasting impression.
I will add Frank Martin's Requiem (late seventies) as another work that became a real "favorite".
Quote from: Jo498 on October 31, 2022, 04:43:55 AM
Ligeti: Etudes for piano (1980s)
A favourite! And composed during my lifetime. Added to my list. 😎
In terms of importance, late Feldman without question. For favorites either Piano and String Quartet or Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello.
Not sure about most important—how am I supposed to qualify importance? Very little music written since 1992 has had widespread influence due to the ever increasing market segmentation, declining relevance of classical music, and limited performance opportunities.
The most likely candidates within the classical field are Grisey Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil, Haas in vain, Adams Become Ocean, Reich Different Trains, Stockhausen Klang. Not sure what the most influential overall has been.
For personal favourites? At the moment I would pick Ratkje Crepuscular Hour.
Quote from: amw on November 02, 2022, 10:49:28 AM
Very little music written since 1992 has had widespread influence due to the ever increasing market segmentation, declining relevance of classical music, and limited performance opportunities.
Why 1992 specifically? Just curious.
I am 30 years old.
Quote from: amw on November 04, 2022, 06:28:02 PM
I am 30 years old.
Lord...
I would give everything Todd owns to be thirty again. >:D
Okay, that's pretty obvious now that I made you point it out. For some reason I was thinking the CD market did something that year or some-such.
Quote from: LKB on November 04, 2022, 09:07:30 PM
I would give everything Todd owns to be thirty again. >:D
In today's world? No thanks.
Quote from: amw on November 02, 2022, 10:49:28 AM
Very little music written since 1992 has had widespread influence due to the ever increasing market segmentation, declining relevance of classical music, and limited performance opportunities.
As a side note,
electronic dance music peaked in 1992. It was the "magic year" of that genre.
Quote from: amw on November 04, 2022, 06:28:02 PM
I am 30 years old.
Probably among the youngest GMGers. Enjoy it while you can! :D
I'm 33. I just haven't decided on my answer to the question yet. ;D
I'm 27, which makes this question even harder ;D I think Penderecki's 3rd and 7th symphonies might qualify for the topic of this thread.
Quote from: amw on November 04, 2022, 06:28:02 PM
I am 30 years old.
Quote from: Brian on November 05, 2022, 06:55:38 AM
I'm 33.
Quote from: vers la flamme on November 05, 2022, 07:14:51 AM
I'm 27
Biologically speaking, I could be your father... which is a poetical way of saying I am (gettting) old. :(
But then again, my son will turn 10-yo next March, so I guess age is just a figure on the ID. :D
May God preserve us all young at heart --- and may we all die young and as late as possible. ;)
amw and vers - maybe we should start a Diner thread for millennials and younger, no old folks allowed to post or reply ;D
-
Not sure what the most "important" work of the last 33 years is, amw might be right that it is "Become Ocean." Actually, the most performed work might be Morten Lauridsen's "O magnum mysterium" (1993)?
As for my own favorites...
Christopher Rouse's flute concerto and Symphony No. 5
David Matthews' Symphony No. 9
Esa-Pekka Salonen's cello concerto
Fazil Say's violin concerto "1001 Nights in the Harem"
Lera Auerbach's preludes for cello and piano
Gabriela Lena Frank's chamber music
Jonathan Leshnoff's cello concerto and violin concerto No. 2
Aaron Jay Kernis's musica celestis
Penderecki's Sextet and horn concerto "Winterreise"
Kalevi Aho's Symphony No. 9, Symphonic Dances, flute concerto, trombone concerto, horn concerto
Quote from: Brian on November 05, 2022, 11:03:19 AM
amw and vers - maybe we should start a Diner thread for millennials and younger, no old folks allowed to post or reply ;D
Kids will always behave like kids... ;D
These ones stand out for me:
Rautavaara: Symphony No. 8
Penderecki: Piano Concerto, Symphony [No. 6]
Vasks: Symphony No. 2, Viola Concerto, Violin Concerto
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on November 05, 2022, 01:45:32 PM
These ones stand out for me:
Rautavaara: Symphony No. 8
Penderecki: Piano Concerto, Symphony [No. 6]
Vasks: Symphony No. 2, Viola Concerto, Violin Concerto
+1 for Rautavaara (Symphony No.Eight) and Vasks (Symphony No.2).
Quote from: 71 dB on November 05, 2022, 05:36:31 AM
As a side note, electronic dance music peaked in 1992. It was the "magic year" of that genre.
Yes, that's fair—consider my post amended to be discussing only academic classical music as a scene; I have little exposure to other genres. I know there was still some new stuff going on in hip-hop in the 1990s, and technology led to a production revolution in the 2000s-2010s that produced new and seminal works in almost all genres that rely on electronics (except classical music, which mostly used that to refine the principles of live electronics developed in the 1960s). I simply don't have the time to obtain my current level of classical music obsession in any other genre.
Quote from: Brian on November 05, 2022, 11:03:19 AM
amw and vers - maybe we should start a Diner thread for millennials and younger, no old folks allowed to post or reply ;D
I feel like there used to be at least twice as many of us a couple of years back (including ComposerOfAvantGarde, EigenUser, nathanb, alien guy), yet now we are a dwindling minority confined to the distant steppes, practicing our ancestral traditions of not texting back, obsessively commenting on HBO shows that we watch using our parents' subscriptions, farming avocados for our traditional national toast dish, and reminiscing about using ChatRoulette in 2008, as we have for thousands of years. The pandemic maketh a mockery of all flesh, I assume.
Quote
Not sure what the most "important" work of the last 33 years is, amw might be right that it is "Become Ocean." Actually, the most performed work might be Morten Lauridsen's "O magnum mysterium" (1993)?
Oh wow, I didn't actually know that was written during my lifetime. Yeah, with the whole choral tradition and the subsequent transitions of people like Jonathan Dove and Eric Whitacre into orchestral music and opera, that may actually be the most influential work of our generation. I was annoyed to have just missed out on the nearest competitor, Musica Celestis (1990), all because my parents didn't want to have a baby in the midst of the Yugoslav economic recession, but honestly if we still have string quartets/orchestras in 2122 after the rest of the post-1976 cultural heritage has sunk into obscurity, that's the piece I would put money on surviving.
I was disappointed to only just miss out on citing Honegger's wonderful 3rd symphony. :-X
Quote from: aukhawk on November 06, 2022, 01:30:10 AM
I was disappointed to only just miss out on citing Honegger's wonderful 3rd symphony. :-X
One of the great 20th Century symphonies IMO but before my time too.
Quote from: vandermolen on November 06, 2022, 01:39:53 AM
One of the great 20th Century symphonies IMO but before my time too.
Yes, this come up in a conversation quite recently and so I listened to it, I did know it before but I'd forgotten the details - I'd just remembered it as intense music. It is probably true that it's one of the great symphonies from the first half of the 20th century at least. The only recording I own is Munch's so I may well at some point listen to some others - I just don't listen to big symphonies much though.
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on November 05, 2022, 01:45:32 PM
These ones stand out for me:
Rautavaara: Symphony No. 8
Vasks: Symphony No. 2, Viola Concerto, Violin Concerto
Same here, though I should add Pärt's
Te Deum and
Kanon Pokajanen
Quote from: amw on November 06, 2022, 12:21:51 AM
I feel like there used to be at least twice as many of us a couple of years back (including ComposerOfAvantGarde, EigenUser, nathanb, alien guy), yet now we are a dwindling minority confined to the distant steppes, practicing our ancestral traditions of not texting back, obsessively commenting on HBO shows that we watch using our parents' subscriptions, farming avocados for our traditional national toast dish, and reminiscing about using ChatRoulette in 2008, as we have for thousands of years. The pandemic maketh a mockery of all flesh, I assume.
:P
Did I ever tell the story of the time I met someone on ChatRoulette and went on vacation to Sweden with them? It ended badly ;D
Quote from: Brian on November 05, 2022, 11:03:19 AM
amw and vers - maybe we should start a Diner thread for millennials and younger, no old folks allowed to post or reply ;D
-
Not sure what the most "important" work of the last 33 years is, amw might be right that it is "Become Ocean." Actually, the most performed work might be Morten Lauridsen's "O magnum mysterium" (1993)?
As for my own favorites...
Christopher Rouse's flute concerto and Symphony No. 5
David Matthews' Symphony No. 9
Esa-Pekka Salonen's cello concerto
Fazil Say's violin concerto "1001 Nights in the Harem"
Lera Auerbach's preludes for cello and piano
Gabriela Lena Frank's chamber music
Jonathan Leshnoff's cello concerto and violin concerto No. 2
Aaron Jay Kernis's musica celestis
Penderecki's Sextet and horn concerto "Winterreise"
Kalevi Aho's Symphony No. 9, Symphonic Dances, flute concerto, trombone concerto, horn concerto
You and I have very similar tastes in contemporary music, Brian! Rouse, D. Matthews, Leshnoff, Say, Kernis, and Aho are some of my favorite composers of recent times. The others I need to investigate further.
Gubaidulina: In tempus praesens
One of my biggest experience in contemporary music, absolutely a masterpiece.
Giya Kancheli: Styx
Lindberg: Clarinet concerto
Ligeti: Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedűvel
Quote from: Roberto on April 09, 2023, 01:51:27 AMGubaidulina: In tempus praesens
One of my biggest experience in contemporary music, absolutely a masterpiece.
Giya Kancheli: Styx
Lindberg: Clarinet concerto
Ligeti: Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedűvel
Love that Lindberg clarinet concerto! Don't know the other works. I'll have to check them out. By the way, did you go to a performance of the Gubaidulina work or listen to a recording of it?
PD
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on April 09, 2023, 09:45:53 AMLove that Lindberg clarinet concerto! Don't know the other works. I'll have to check them out. By the way, did you go to a performance of the Gubaidulina work or listen to a recording of it?
PD
I have this recording about Gubaidulina:
In tempus (https://www.amazon.com/Violin-Concertos-Gubaidulina-Tempus-Praesens/dp/B001EBSV2I/ref=sr_1_1?crid=NBM2ZJ786CHZ&keywords=gubaidulina+in+tempus&qid=1681065193&sprefix=gubaidulina+in+tem%2Caps%2C533&sr=8-1)
I think we can call it "reference" recording because she wrote it to Mutter and she supervised this recording. If you will listen to it I will be curious about your opinion.
Lindberg was here in Budapest months ago and there was a conversation with him. After the conversation I asked him to sign the Clarinet concerto CD. He was kind and we talked about supercomputers. :)
His 1st Violin concerto is also very good. I like contemporary music when it has strong drama in it. I think Lindberg and Gubaidulina also very good in creating tension and how to resolve it. At least in the pieces I know from them (not too many).
Kancheli's speciality is the catchy tunes and harmonies and strong dynamic contrasts. At one moment he writes pianissimo passages and fortissimo in the next second and vica versa.