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A Contemporary Music Repertoire (a work in progress)

346K views 208 replies 41 participants last post by  Chat Noir 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi everyone,

For the past year or so, I've been on and off working on compiling a large, but hopefully comprehensive, list of contemporary classical music. In fact, I'm still working on it, but I thought I would share my current progress in case anyone is interested.

What is this list exactly? Well, in the most precise terms, it is simply an aggregation of works of the most-acclaimed contemporary composers that both critics and casual listeners seem to recommend. I did this through plenty of research across various forums, books, articles and reviews (including a drop of my own preferences). As I disclaim in the link, this list is obviously not scientific nor perfect by any means, but I hope it provides a good overview of contemporary classical music especially for novices.

To breakdown its sheer vastness, I created a couple tiers to distinguish the most-recommended works:

⋆⋆⋆ means an essential work, among the most esteemed of the contemporary era
⋆⋆ means a fairly important work, good to know especially if you're interested in that particular composer

Of the composers listed, am I missing any of their important works or your favorites? Do you disagree strongly with any of the star ratings (or lack thereof)? Or generally, if anyone has any questions or feedback, I'd be happy to hear!

Edit: I should have made it more clear that there are tons of absent composers that I just haven't had time to include yet. Each composer entry takes many hours to complete thoroughly so I appreciate all of your patience.
 
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#108 ·
And with that entry complete, I'm planning to take a bit of a break before tackling the next one. When this resumes, the agenda will likely be as follows:

Romitelli, Fausto
Rzewski, Frederic
Saariaho, Kaija
Sciarrino, Salvatore
Sculthorpe, Peter
Silvestrov, Valentin
Stockhausen, Karlheinz
Tavener, John
Vasks, Pēteris
Wuorinen, Charles
Xenakis, Iannis
Young, La Monte


In the meantime, feel free to let me know if there are any pieces missing, if you want to see any particular works on a higher tier, or any other general feedback. I hope everyone has been finding this as enjoyable and useful as I have!
 
#110 · (Edited)
In the interim, I've made a number of promotions with perhaps a few more to follow:

Babbitt: Semi-Simple Variations (now listed)
Boulez: Piano Sonata No. 1 (now 3-star)
Cage: 108 (now listed)
Cage: A Book of Music (now listed)
Cage: Dream (now 2-star)
Cage: Fontana Mix (now 2-star)
Cage: Four Walls (now listed)
Cage: Four6 (now listed)
Cage: Imaginary Landscape No. 4 (now listed)
Cage: Ryoanji (now 2-star)
Cage: Suite for Toy Piano (now 2-star)
Denisov: Chamber Symphony No. 2 (now listed)
Denisov: Piano Concerto (now listed)
Denisov: Saxophone Concerto (now 2-star)
Denisov: Sonata for Saxophone and Cello (now listed)
Nørgård: Turn (now listed)
Takemitsu: Gitimalya (now listed)
Takemitsu: In the Woods (now listed)
Takemitsu: Marginalia (now listed)

If I have the time in the coming days, I hope to finish up entries on perhaps the two biggest names missing from the list.
 
#112 ·
Thanks, science.

I've been meaning to bump this thread to announce that I've finally added entries for Stockhausen and Xenakis. I haven't had much time to listen to their works recently to make a proper post, but they are two composers I admire and need to explore more. And hopefully their inclusions now will lend a bit more credibility to the list.
 
#115 ·
No promises, but Aho should be in the next batch.



I don't disqualify anyone because of style, but I am prioritizing composers that are sui generis and have been at the forefront of significant movements or schools. I'll admit Yoshimatsu has slipped my mind, but I wouldn't discount him. He just may not show up for a while, assuming the longevity of this project.

And as a side note, a few more promotions:

Andriessen: Rosa (now listed)
Nono: "Hay que caminar" soñando (now 2-star)
Stockhausen: Erwachen (now listed)
Stockhausen: Freude (now 2-star)
Stockhausen: Hoffnung (now listed)
Stockhausen: Natürliche Dauern (now listed)
Xenakis: Khoaï (now listed)
 
#116 ·
I think this is an interesting and valuable project. I like to know individual's favorite composers/works but also I am curious about what contemporary works are widely regarded as standout. There are not so many guides like this.

I know almost nothing about Carter's works except for some string quartets, and I will check out some from the list. (Just listened to Variations for Orchestra (***).) There is no star for his works in the 21st century. His late works are not generally regarded as high as his earlier works, or it's too early to assess? I love Cage's number pieces but rarely see discussions about each work. It's interesting that Four, Fourteen, Seven[SUP]2[/SUP] and Fifty-Eight got stars.
 
#117 · (Edited)
I appreciate the kind words, tortkis.

I know almost nothing about Carter's works except for some string quartets, and I will check out some from the list. (Just listened to Variations for Orchestra (***).) There is no star for his works in the 21st century. His late works are not generally regarded as high as his earlier works, or it's too early to assess? I love Cage's number pieces but rarely see discussions about each work. It's interesting that Four, Fourteen, Seven[SUP]2[/SUP] and Fifty-Eight got stars.
I think Carter's late works seem to be the most obscure part of his oeuvre, generally only known to Carter aficionados. I'm not exactly sure as to why this is. Perhaps his high productivity late in life worked against him as none of those works had much space to stand out. His compositional style also changed a bit as he reduced much of the density and length of his prior works and, to my mind, became more accessible. I personally quite like and even prefer some of his late works, especially his Cello Concerto and Horn Concerto.

Sometimes, sets of pieces like Cage's number pieces tend to garner more recommendations as a whole compared to most of the individual pieces. These are instances when it is incumbent on me to select which works end up where, which is a bit more subjective than usual. In this case, those four Cage pieces are by my counts the most recommended but I don't think I would consider them significantly better/more-liked compared to his other number works. There are also quite a few that I excluded from the list that perhaps quality-wise should be on there, but I had to draw lines somewhere.
 
#118 ·
How close are the following works from making the list?

- Adams: American Berserk (2001)
- Adams: Guide to Strange Places (2001)
- Adams: The Gospel According to the Other Mary (2012)
- Adams: Scheherazade.2 (2014)
- Górecki: Symphony No. 4, op. 85 "Tansman Epizody" (2006)
- Harvey: Messages (2008)
- Reich: Pulse (2015)
 
G
#120 ·
hello trout,
your project is tremendous and not surprisingly you make the same choices as mine; it is simply the result of hard work; i totally respect your ethical way of making selections; you are now at a level of about 50 + composers and i confirm you have made the right choices for each of them; i could tell you that i listen to my favourite composer,xenakis, since 1958 and that akrata and echange are worth a zillion stars, but you got it right for all the other entries.
as a challenge to you and all tc members i send you a list of the +- 200 contemporary composers i cherish most at this point in time;

Contemporary Classical Composers: Index

-Argentina : Golijov
-Armenia : Mansourian
-Australia : L.Lim*, Sculthorpe, Vine
-Austria : Cerha*, G.F.Haas*, Larcher, Mitterer, Neuwirth
-Azerbaijan: Ali-Sadeh
-Bulgaria : Tabakova
-Canada : Mozetich, Vivier
-China: Q.Chen, Y.Chen, Lei Liang, Bright Sheng, Tan Dun, Zhou Long
-Croatia: M.Ivicevic
-Czechoslovakia : Kalabis
-Denmark : Abrahamsen, Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Norgard*, Ruders
-England: Ades*, J.Anderson, N.Barrett, R.Barrett, Benjamin, Birtwistle*, Cardew , Clyne, Ferneyhough*, Finnissy *, Goehr , Grange, Harvey , Hesketh, Leighton, Maxwell-Davies, Pickard, Saunders*, R.Simpson, R.Stevenson, J.Tavener, Turnage, Weir
-Estonia : Eespere, Part, Sumera*, Tormis, Tuur
-Finland : Aho, Fagerlund , Kokkonen, Lindberg*, Rautavaara*, Saariaho* , Sallinen, Salonen
-France: André, Bayle, Beffa, Bertrand, Boulez*, Canat de Chizy, Cavanna, Connesson, Dalbavie*, Dhomont, Dufourt, Dusapin*, Escaich, Greif , Grisey, Levinas , Manoury*, Mantovani, Messiaen, Murail*, Pecou , Tanguy
-Georgia : Kancheli*
-Germany : Bauckholt*, Henze, Hölszny, Lachenmann, Mundry*, Pintscher, Rihm*, Ruzicka*, Spahlinger, Stockhausen*, Widmann*
-Greece : Aperghis, Xenakis*
-Hungary: Eötvös, Kurtag, Ligeti *
-Iceland: Guonadottir, Ingolfsson, Jonsdottir, Thorvaldsdottir*
-Israel: Czernowin, Ran
-Italy: Berio*, Francesconi, Nono*, Scelsi* , Sciarrino
-Japan : Fujikura, Mochizuki, Nishimura , Takemitsu*
-Korea : Chin*
-Latvia : Vasks
-Lithuania : Narbutaite
-Mexico : Paredes
-Netherlands : L.Andriessen, Van der Aa
-Norway : Buene, Nordheim
-Poland : Gorecki, Penderecki*, Zubel*
-Rumania: Radulescu*
-Russia: Artyomov, Gubaidulina*, Khorkova, Raskatov, Schnittke*, Tishchenko , Ustvolskaya *
-Scotland: Dillon, Hinton, Knussen, MacMillan*
-Serbia: Djordjevic
-Slovakia: Godar*
-South Africa: Volans
-Spain: E.Mendoza, Parra, Posadas*,
-Switzerland: Furrer, Huber
-Sweden: Hillborg*, Pettersson*, Skog, Tarrodi
-Ukraine: Desyatnikov, Silvestrov
-United States: J.Adams , J.L.Adams* , Auerbach , Bates, Cage*, Carter* , Corigliano , G.Crumb, Currier, J.Eastman, Eckardt , Fairouz* , Feldman*, R.Gibson, Glass, Harrison, Hersch, Higdon*, T.Johnson, Kernis, La Monte Young*, D.Lang, Liebermann, A.Lucier, I.Marshall , Matheson, Missy Mazzoli , Monk , Muhly, Oliveros, Perich, Persichetti, Reich*, Reynolds, Riley*, Rzewski, Schwantner, L.Schwendinger, Sharp, Taaffe-Zwilich, A.R.Thomas, Torke, Tower*, Tsontakis, Wolfe*
 
#124 ·
Thanks again science for the kind words.

Just an update to say that Kaija Saariaho's entry has been added. One of my favorite composers, Saariaho manages to elicit a profound intellectual and emotional response from me, the latter of which much of contemporary music either fails to or fails at attempting to. This is not necessarily a dig on current music as not everything has to move me to be enjoyable. However, I do find it increasingly less common for composers to strive for this expressly, focusing instead on a more visceral and intellectual approach. Thankfully, Saariaho manages to do all the above in her own beautiful language. Some of her pieces with electronics were among the first that I encountered that really blew my mind and widened my view on how the medium can be used.

I've finished up a couple other entries in the interim, and I'm hoping that this project will be a bit more active in the near future.
 
#125 · (Edited)
I'm liking the Young entry. Have you ever heard Just Charles & Cello in the Romantic Chord? The sole recording by the dedicatee is extremely elusive (and expensive!)-according to the CD's liner notes: "The new work was composed specifically for Charles Curtis, who has studied the performance technique with Young in the guru-disciple method of oral transmission over a period of years. The work is not intended to be played by other cellists unless they study it with Young in the same way...."

If you ask me, that's bordering on pretentious.
 
#126 · (Edited)
Young's music is notoriously hard to find and listen to. I've only heard a couple short samples of that piece that I found available on some obscure site and, well, they were all just cello drones. Any special performance technique was lost on me, though I admit Young's music is not exactly my cup of tea and, thus, I haven't paid the closest attention to the sounds. I respect his vision and style, but the music doesn't hypnotize me in the way Riley's or Glass's manages. I do find much of The Well-Tuned Piano quite fascinating though.

And since the cat's out of the bag, here's a link to Young's ironically short entry (unlike much of his music).

And in other news, there is one new addition to Haas's entry: his Solstices (2019). I hope you're happy if you're reading this, Marc!
 
#127 · (Edited)
I recently stumbled upon a fascinating survey of 21st-century classical music (click on "Get more information") from 113 leading conductors, critics, art directors, and musicologists in Europe's contemporary music scene. The results unsurprisingly seem to skew toward a similar avant-garde aesthetic, that of the so-called "Third Viennese School", but I still find them to be rich with recommendations.

I've incorporated all the relevant results in my current tallies, thus bumping up the following works:

Abrahamsen: Four Pieces for Orchestra (now listed)
Adams: The Gospel According to the Other Mary (now listed)
Adès: In Seven Days (now 2-star)
Berio: Piano Sonata (now listed)
Boulez: Dérive 2 (now 3-star)
Chin: Le Silence des Sirènes (now listed)
Furrer: Enigma I-VI (now listed)
Furrer: FAMA (now 3-star)
Gubaidulina: Glorious Percussion (now listed)
Haas: Atthis (now listed)
Haas: dark dreams (now listed)
Harvey: Speakings (now 2-star)
Kurtág: Colindă Baladă (now listed)
Lachenmann: Concertini (now 3-star)
Lachenmann: Schreiben (now 2-star)
Murail: Terre d'Ombre (now listed)
Rihm: Dionysos (now 2-star)
Rihm: Sieben Passions-Texte (now listed)
Saariaho: Laterna Magica (now 2-star)
Van der Aa: Blank Out (now 2-star)
Van dar Aa: One (now listed)
 
#128 ·
Two completed entries to announce:

Frederic Rzewski

Salvatore Sciarrino

Both composers I have come around to recently and now enjoy quite a lot. Sciarrino's music, especially, has left a really great impression. A number of his works like Studi per l'intonazione del mare are immensely evocative through its quiet, yet powerful timbres. And his work Efebo con radio is a delightful sound collage, not too far removed from those by Schnittke or even Ives.
 
#130 ·
Aho, Kancheli, Silvestrov are three of the best-known names not included in this project thus far. I hope you still plan to continue.
Thanks for the bump, Portamento.

Yes, at the very least, I'll soon finish the half-complete Silvestrov entry collecting digital dust on my laptop. Available free time and motivation for this project (and classical/contemporary music in general) are fairly cyclical for me and the latter especially has been at a bit of a trough in the past couple months. Not that I don't love it still, but other interests, like film, have prioritized themselves recently.

When I do "return" to this, the following composers would be among the next entrants:

Aho, Kalevi
Benjamin, George
Corigliano, John
Dhomont, Francis
Dusapin, Pascal
Ferrari, Luc
Hovhaness, Alan
Kancheli, Giya
Lindberg, Magnus
MacMillan, James
Monk, Meredith
Oliveros, Pauline
Parmegiani, Bernard
Radulescu, Horatiu
Rochberg, George
Romitelli, Fausto
Sculthorpe, Peter
Silvestrov, Valentin
Tavener, John
Vasks, Pēteris
Wuorinen, Charles
 
#133 ·
Thanks, chu. Ives unfortunately falls outside the scope of this project as he composed during the early part of the last century. I'm looking for more recent composers. The cutoff for this project to determine if a composer qualifies is seeing if they have a sizable body of work since the 1970s. If you know of any important ones missing, please do let me know!
 
#137 · (Edited)
I appreciate all the support, guys. I really want to try to get back to this at some point in the near future. Life has been really busy the past month or so and will continue to be probably until the holiday season. But I hope that you all continue to show your enthusiasm for contemporary music both in this thread and on the forums. I am always interested in finding new names to explore and blind spots to uncover. I hope that we ultimately help create a contemporary music repertoire (not just referring to this project) that is as large, diverse, and informative as possible.

Thanks a lot.
 
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