I recently heard Osvaldas Balakauskas a contemporary Lithuanian composer. He is kind of postmodern I suppose, I can hear baroque, late romantic and minimalism like influences I think. There's not a lot of his stuff out there but here's two.
The last couple of composers whose works was hitherto unknown to me before a couple of impulse purchases were Humphrey Searle and Nikolai Roslavets. There isn't much available of either composer: Searle because of general apathy and neglect and Roslavets became he became a victim of the Soviet Union's damnatio memoriae policy due to his early Futurist tendencies - only recently have some of his suppressed or unheard works started to be realised from papers which had to be hidden for many years (and many other manuscripts/scores were confiscated and/or destroyed).
Alfredo Casella. I love his Symphony No. 2 in C minor. Some really dramatic and turbulent music throughout the work, and the whole culminates in a massive C major climax (with organ and bells) that doesn't quite reach the heights of Mahler 2, but comes pretty close.
I recently discovered a fresh appreciation for John Adams. The catalyst was hearing Harmonielehre live, which is not a work I recalled having listened to.
Joachim Raff hasn't been that recent, got into him last winter, but in my overall musical past he is recent. I listen to a few more works by him here and there, namely orchestral works. Raff is wonderful with the woodwinds.
As for a single work, I've recently discovered how beautiful Spem in Alium by Thomas Tallis really is, although I've known it by name for several years. I'm writing a research paper on it for Music History, I learned a ton.
Kuhlau is a really fine composer. My high opinion rests on the fact that once when listening to the radio, I was hearing a chamber piece of his without knowing who it was. My initial thoughts were of some sort of sucessor to or contemporary Beethoven, and I thought of Hummel, but I knew something was different, there was more purpose to the notes but the main themes were just as good. Weber was another thought, and Mendelssohn even came to mind. This composer was clearly more polished and focused than Hummel or Weber, and yet not as harmonically adventuresome as Mendelssohn. When Kuhlau was announced, I was delighted that such a polished and interesting work could be by a lesser known name like Kuhlau.
The chamber music of Brahms is giving me lots of music to listen to. I am eating it up. More Haydn string quartets are popping out of the wood work for the gems they are.
I have recently discovered, and come to appreciate, William Boyce (1711-1779). This late Baroque English composer has been hailed as the "English Mozart" due to his penchant for playing by ear. I discovered him by listening to the local classical station while driving to work. His eight symphonies have completely captivated my attention and, after that initial sampling, I immediately looked up a recording of these works and purchased them on the very same day.
My recording was made in 1987 by Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert. It is definitely worth a quick Google search for a sample of this remarkable music.
Even though Silvestrov isn't a new composer to me, I came back to his music from maybe a year or so break and I'm really enjoying his music much more this time around. Many here have probably seen my posts regarding this composer already though. As I mentioned in one of my posts, I can't take too much of his music because it's so emotional for me. It's kind of like a hot fudge sundae. You would love to eat them every hour but you know you can't. I would say the work that has got to me the most was his masterful Symphony No. 5. Although it's a long length for a work that consists of nothing but slow movements, I found it to be such a compelling work. The other work I enjoyed a lot was Metamusik. I look forward to exploring this composer more in-depth.
Dobrinka Tabakova (I just made a composer guestbook for her).
Monteverdi - obviously I always knew OF Monteverdi, but he was like that painting in the hallway that one just walks by every day without really stopping to look. Actually listening to Monteverdi's music in a purposeful way is new to me, and I love it.
Peter Ablinger
Alexina Louie
Nielsen and Medtner - two more "well-known" names that were just not on my radar at all until this year.
Daniel Asia.
Not a discovery as far as new to me but recently discovered that I like his music after repeated listnings. This composer has really grown on me. His 4 symphonies(I hear there is a 5th?) are very good but have now found his #3 mesmerizing. Gateways and the Piano Concerto are equally good. Took me awhile to get there but the journey to enjoying the music has been worth the time spent.
Indeed. He's a great composer. Checkout his Symphonies No. 7 & 8 and the Violin Concerto. Outstanding works.
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