Yes, but I can think of only a few offhand 
I am reticent to wholeheartedly embrace the music of composers whose music is deeply nationalistic, eg., the slew of Slavic composers with all of their folk melodies. Smetana comes to mind (I recently added Dvořák to my hearem and have discovered some of Janáček's later works, however).
The English school of composers (I mentioned them in another thread yesterday), Elgar, Walton, Bax (actually Irish, I believe), Vaughan Williams and likely others, seem a bit nationalistic and stodgy (Elgar's chamber music turns out to be very nice, however, what little I have heard, as well as the Concertos; and I have received a most promising recommendation for an opera by Vaughan Williams recently).
I cannot locate the details, but, if my memory is correct, Vincent d'Indy was instrumental in ousting Camille Saint-Saëns from his position in some musical society. He showed himself to be such an @$$ that I have written him off. Luckily, his music is not much performed these days, anyway.
I don't wish to constantly have to come back to this, but American composers continually display that American sound, for want of a more precise term. As soon as I hear it, it's over between us. Copland, in his populist phase (his early output is surprisingly interesting!), raises hairs all over my body. The minimalists similarly. They sound like diluted classical music, intended to appeal to pop audiences, to give them a feeling of culture. As I stated elsewhere, I have discovered a few pieces that sound okay, but I'm interested in composers who are on my wave length, whose output I embrace rabidly, as opposed to composers who manage to write an occasional piece that is just okay.
There are probably a few others. All in all, I am quite accepting and open to most composers and their works and am continually breaking down my prejudices and adding even more composers to my collection and ears. Opera is subject to a recent campaign in this direction, for example, as are composers mentioned above and elsewhere.
I am reticent to wholeheartedly embrace the music of composers whose music is deeply nationalistic, eg., the slew of Slavic composers with all of their folk melodies. Smetana comes to mind (I recently added Dvořák to my hearem and have discovered some of Janáček's later works, however).
The English school of composers (I mentioned them in another thread yesterday), Elgar, Walton, Bax (actually Irish, I believe), Vaughan Williams and likely others, seem a bit nationalistic and stodgy (Elgar's chamber music turns out to be very nice, however, what little I have heard, as well as the Concertos; and I have received a most promising recommendation for an opera by Vaughan Williams recently).
I cannot locate the details, but, if my memory is correct, Vincent d'Indy was instrumental in ousting Camille Saint-Saëns from his position in some musical society. He showed himself to be such an @$$ that I have written him off. Luckily, his music is not much performed these days, anyway.
I don't wish to constantly have to come back to this, but American composers continually display that American sound, for want of a more precise term. As soon as I hear it, it's over between us. Copland, in his populist phase (his early output is surprisingly interesting!), raises hairs all over my body. The minimalists similarly. They sound like diluted classical music, intended to appeal to pop audiences, to give them a feeling of culture. As I stated elsewhere, I have discovered a few pieces that sound okay, but I'm interested in composers who are on my wave length, whose output I embrace rabidly, as opposed to composers who manage to write an occasional piece that is just okay.
There are probably a few others. All in all, I am quite accepting and open to most composers and their works and am continually breaking down my prejudices and adding even more composers to my collection and ears. Opera is subject to a recent campaign in this direction, for example, as are composers mentioned above and elsewhere.
