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...

[glock]

Jacob van Eyck

[KevinP]

In terms of having a unique voice, Hovhaness comes to mind. But I'm not sure 'refreshing' is an adjective I would choose, and I say this as someone who generally likes his music.

[hopefullytrusting]

Jacob van Eyck

I'm of two minds here - the most interesting - fresh - sounds I hear always come from pre-Baroque or Contemporary classical.

If I was to nominate specific composers, I think I'd say Ludwig Daser (but most of the Franco-Flemish school would fit here) and, of course, Tine Surel Lange (easily, for me, as the contemporary representative).

[Karl Henning]

First posts ton this thread since 7 Dec 2007, eh? Quoth Mr Spock, "Fascinating!"

To my ears, Stravinsky and Haydn.

[DavidW]

Bach

[AaronSF]

Coca Cola..."a pause that refreshes."   

[Symphonic Addict]

[springrite]

Feldman

[calyptorhynchus]

Milhaud, I think.

[Mister Sharpe]

A tough, actually very tough question.  Milhaud was a tempting answer, but nope.  For me, it's Poulenc, and in particular his chamber work.