[Bastien]

For myself, this to be an impossible request.

 

[justekaia]

Akrata by Iannis Xenakis. A lifetime companion.

 

[Kjetil Heggelund]

Of course it has to be Mozart symphony no. 40. I first got hooked when I was 6 years old. Nobody can beat that, I'm 52 now, I think, and still love it (just not Böhm)...yes I am 52...

 

[Ludwig Schon]

Of course it has to be Mozart symphony no. 40. I first got hooked when I was 6 years old. Nobody can beat that, I'm 52 now, I think, and still love it (just not Böhm)...yes I am 52...

Elevator music I associate with being held in a telephone queue…

 

[justekaia]

Elevator music I associate with being held on a telephone queue…

there were no elevators and no telephone queues in those days so mozart did not write with that purpose in mind; i agree that the music is syrupy and repetitive, but those were the days....; it baffles me that anybody can like this today while there is so much exciting new music

 

[TwoFlutesOneTrumpet]

there were no elevators and no telephone queues in those days so mozart did not write with that purpose in mind; i agree that the music is syrupy and repetitive, but those were the days....; it baffles me that anybody can like this today while there is so much exciting new music

Give a couple of examples of "exciting new music" that is more exciting than Mozart's sym no. 40. While not among my favourite symphonies, I would still rather listen to it than any new music I've heard, which for the purpose of this statement I'll define as classical music written in the last 40 years.

 

[Neo Romanza]

My answer would be Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle. It has everything packed into it --- mystique, beauty, eeriness et. al. There are several performances I absolutely adore, but if I had to only take one with me to a desert island it would be Boulez on Columbia (Sony):

 

[justekaia]

Give a couple of examples of "exciting new music" that is more exciting than Mozart's sym no. 40. While not among my favourite symphonies, I would still rather listen to it than any new music I've heard, which for the purpose of this statement I'll define as classical music written in the last 40 years.

my point is that although Mozart is a fabulous composer he has written quite a few duds of which S 40 is a perfect example; moreover it is played far too often in concert halls and on radio stations; now to answer your question i invite you to discover a thread that i have massively supported and which is called "best contemporary composers"; nearly every week i single out another composer with an exciting work; the last one with lizée is very interesting and i also encourage you and other members to read a bit about this composer; even if contemporary is not your favourite category i hope it will interest you

 

[Kjetil Heggelund]

...so my favorite composition of all time is a dud. DOH! 👺

 

[Prodromides]

Give a couple of examples of "exciting new music" that is more exciting than Mozart's sym no. 40... which for the purpose of this statement I'll define as classical music written in the last 40 years.

A couple examples within the last 40 years:

Maurice Ohana's 1989 Quatuor No. 3
Gunther Schuller's 1993 Of Reminiscences and Reflections

 

[TwoFlutesOneTrumpet]

A couple examples within the last 40 years:

Maurice Ohana's 1989 Quatuor No. 3
Gunther Schuller's 1993 Of Reminiscences and Reflections

Thanks for the suggestions. I filed the String Quartet in the "interesting and to listen to more closely in the near future" category. Of Reminiscences and Reflections is exactly the kind of music I dread having to sit through during a concert while waiting for the second half with the Beethoven symphony.

My version of exciting music seems very different from yours (just one example)

 

[Prodromides]

My version of exciting music seems very different from yours (just one example)

Agreed. I think we all should recognize that there are different types/levels of listeners/listening. It's not possible for any individual composition to appeal to everybody because not all of us have the same criteria for satisfaction.
I love sonorism. Textural sound sculptures appeal to me more than that which was written prior to the 20th century.

[that Schuller piece, by the way, won a Pulitzer - so there have been a few more human beings on the planet besides myself who love this music ]

 

[TwoFlutesOneTrumpet]

Agreed. I think we all should recognize that there are different types/levels of listeners/listening. It's not possible for any individual composition to appeal to everybody because not all of us have the same criteria for satisfaction.
I love sonorism. Textural sound sculptures appeal to me more than that which was written prior to the 20th century.

[that Schuller piece, by the way, won a Pulitzer - so there have been a few more human beings on the planet besides myself who love this music ]

Yep, to each his own. I find textural sound sculptures extremely dull and it seems to me a lot of new music is very concerned with textural sound sculptures a lot more than with thematic development, which to me is a lot more exciting. Looping back to the original post I was replying to that there is so much "new exciting music" that is more exciting than Mozart's symphony no. 40 (which I don't find all that exciting besides the first movement, by the way), it shows how one man's exciting is another's snooze trigger.

 

[leonsm]

My lifelong favorite I think is Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582.

 

[sheri2022]

It's gotta be between Beethoven Missa Solemnis or Bach Mathew's Passion. Both for me are probably the best music piece ever written. Too bad I can't listen to them too often because they're so emotionally devastating for me.

 

[Great Uncle Frederick]

Vaughan Williams Tallis Fantasia - a work which, over and above the sheer beauty of the sound world which VW creates, evokes everything that England has lost or is in danger of losing. It also has important non-musical associations for me. Although I don't really go in for 'bucket lists', I really would love to see and hear it performed in Gloucester Cathedral.

 

[EvaBaron]

Vaughan Williams Tallis Fantasia - a work which, over and above the sheer beauty of the sound world which VW creates, evokes everything that England has lost or is in danger of losing. It also has important non-musical associations for me. Although I don't really go in for 'bucket lists', I really would love to see and hear it performed in Gloucester Cathedral.

Vaughan Williams’ fantasy on a theme of Tallis is also one of my favourite pieces. I discovered it because our orchestra was playing it, which is the best way of discovering new music: by playing it yourself. Performing it was really one of the best experiences I’ve ever had

 

[Pyotr]

The way I decided to answer this impossible question is this: If I had a clock on my music listening my entire life, which classical work would score the most hours? Mozart would win as far as composer but Schubert’s String Quintet would win the individual work honor.

 

[JGolden]

Mozart's Piano Concerto #24 in c minor.

 

[BrandonLG]

Bruckner 8.