current composers

[heidi]

I know we all love the great composers. Does anyone have a composer that lives and still works now. I think I would have to pick John Williams or Hans Zimmer. Both do maily movie scores but they are still good.

[Sorrano]

Originally posted by heidi:
I know we all love the great composers. Does anyone have a composer that lives and still works now. I think I would have to pick John Williams or Hans Zimmer. Both do maily movie scores but they are still good.

I like some of the things that Ligeti and Penderecki have done.

[Rod]

Ennio Morricone.


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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Rutradelusasa]

I do write a few things myself, if you want, I could show a thing or two...

[lysander]

Originally posted by heidi:
I know we all love the great composers. Does anyone have a composer that lives and still works now. I think I would have to pick John Williams or Hans Zimmer. Both do maily movie scores but they are still good.

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the man who is surely the most gifted of modern classical composers--ARVO PART- his music is sublime in it's profound simplicity and wonderful stillness. He seems to be able to create a wonderful tonal world from the most sparse and economical musical materials. I particulary like the way his repetition of chords seems to open up depth within depths of meaning and harmonic beauty.
Part does not belong to the western musical tradition in many ways, because his music does not progress in recongnized forms, instead it imitates church music in it's incantatory modes.
The interesting point is, what would Beethoven make of Part. I think Beethoven would think this is music which is going nowhere, but round and round in a trance like movement, which is aiming to induce a riligious transport of feeling, through repitition, but I think Beethoven would not like. Beethoven's music is far more cerebrial
and works through complex harmonies and progressions to arrive at a place of Joy or happiness which is similare in some ways to the end that Part is aiming for, but is not the total surrender to a trance like state that Part aims at, and which Beethoven would deplore because it is an abnegation of the individual and humanity and the merging of the self in union with God.


[This message has been edited by lysander (edited March 28, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by lysander (edited March 28, 2003).]

[Leigh M]

Carl Vine
He's Australian and I'm not sure whether his works are performed outside of Australia very often but he is a truly brilliant composer. About a year ago I saw his piano concerto performed and it was glorious.

It would be interesting to know if anyone outside of Australia knows of him or his works. So if there is someone out there let us all know.

[Peter]

Originally posted by heidi:
I know we all love the great composers. Does anyone have a composer that lives and still works now. I think I would have to pick John Williams or Hans Zimmer. Both do maily movie scores but they are still good.

Howard Blake

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'Man know thyself'

[Joy]

I would probably have to say John Williams even though I'm not too keen on movie composers I do think that his compositions capture the feel of the particular movie he's writing for.

Joy

[lysander]

Originally posted by Peter:
Howard Blake

I used to like Howard Blake's arrangement of; >>>Flash Gordon>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Did you Peter?


[This message has been edited by lysander (edited March 29, 2003).]

[Sorrano]

Originally posted by lysander:
I am surprised that no one has mentioned the man who is surely the most gifted of modern classical composers--ARVO PART- his music is sublime in it's profound simplicity and wonderful stillness. He seems to be able to create a wonderful tonal world from the most sparse and economical musical materials. I particulary like the way his repetition of chords seems to open up depth within depths of meaning and harmonic beauty.
Part does not belong to the western musical tradition in many ways, because his music does not progress in recongnized forms, instead it imitates church music in it's incantatory modes.
The interesting point is, what would Beethoven make of Part. I think Beethoven would think this is music which is going nowhere, but round and round in a trance like movement, which is aiming to induce a riligious transport of feeling, through repitition, but I think Beethoven would not like. Beethoven's music is far more cerebrial
and works through complex harmonies and progressions to arrive at a place of Joy or happiness which is similare in some ways to the end that Part is aiming for, but is not the total surrender to a trance like state that Part aims at, and which Beethoven would deplore because it is an abnegation of the individual and humanity and the merging of the self in union with God.


[This message has been edited by lysander (edited March 28, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by lysander (edited March 28, 2003).]

Is Part a minimalist? I have associated his name with that camp and for that reason haven't payed too much attention to him. It requires a great effort on my part to listen to that type of music and I happen to be a lazy person.

[lysander]

Yes, Part is a minimalist, he is very economical with his musical notation and chords, in a way very similar to Benjamin Britten who rediscovered Britain's Operatic tradition going back to Purcell with his Great Post War Opera, Peter Grimes.
Britten's similarity with Part, is evident in the wonderfully evocative and economical sea interludes in Peter Grimes.

[This message has been edited by lysander (edited March 29, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by lysander (edited March 30, 2003).]

[OboeKing]

I know this topic is about living composers, but I can't help but praise the works of Lennox Berkeley. He was a composer who could do both melodic, gorgeous, pieces and those more associated with the 20th century harmonic styles. His 6 piano preludes are among my favourite works of his.

Once again sorry for going slightly off the subject, but I think Lennox Berkeley deserves more praise for his excellent works than he actually gets!

Regards,
Michael.

[Peter]

Originally posted by lysander:
I used to like Howard Blake's arrangement of; >>>Flash Gordon>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Did you Peter?

I don't know it! My answer was given rather like Beethoven's in response to being asked who was the greatest living comopser (other than himself!) - he came up with Cherubini but apparently (and not surprisingly) had difficulty thinking of anyone!

I know some of Blake's music and like what I've heard - my interest was due to the fact that he was a pupil of my piano teacher's.

I sadly have to say that generally I have little interest in anything written in the past 100 years! However I do admire some of the music of Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Ravel, Debussy, Stravinsky and Bartok.

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'Man know thyself'

[lysander]

Peter,
It is interesting you refer to Prokofiev,
in my view there have been very few successful musical adaptations of Shakespeare [my other hero, apart from Beethoven], but what must rank as the greatest musical adaptation of the Bard, is surely Prokofiev's - Romeo and Juliet.
ProkofiEv has captured in particular in an unforgettable way the searing warped hatred between the Montagues and Capulets in that great theme that dominates the whole of the work.
It is theme of such power and gravity, that it takes the work beyond being a tonal or descriptive piece into the realm almost of the symphonic. It is also interesting that Prokofiev did a version of Macbeth, so he cleary had some empathy with Shakespeare,
and what is more, had the musical gifts to translate poetic genius.
Western music has really, I think, poorly served Shakespeare, and even notable composers such as Mendelsohn found it all a bit too much.*

[This message has been edited by lysander (edited March 30, 2003).]

[Gurn Blanston]

Originally posted by heidi:
I know we all love the great composers. Does anyone have a composer that lives and still works now. I think I would have to pick John Williams or Hans Zimmer. Both do maily movie scores but they are still good.

Heidi,
No, they're all dead. Sorry. I agree Williams, is good, but just because music is written for an orchestra, it doesn't make it classical, IMHO. The last Great Composer was Dvorak, the last good one was Rachmaninov. That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
Regards, Gurn