Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta

[BRASSO]

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Well, looking at this list, ( Anthony Tommasini, NY Times ) it appears that all the composers of the last 50 years are no match for the REAL " dinosaurs", ie all the dead ones. What arn't ANY of the composers of the last 50 years on this list ? Has the quality of music composing gone downhill compared with that of 50-200 years ago ? And if so, why do we think this is the case ?

Edited January 28, 2011 by BRASSO

[MikeD]

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Well, looking at this list, ( Anthony Tommasini, NY Times ) it appears that all the composers of the last 50 years are no match for the REAL " dinosaurs", ie all the dead ones. What arn't ANY of the composers of the last 50 years on this list ? Has the quality of music composing gone downhill compared with that of 50-200 years ago ? And if so, why do we think this is the case ?

Did you read the article where he said....

As a longtime champion of contemporary music, I was gratified to receive so many objections to my decision to eliminate living composers from consideration. Still, for me there was no other way. We are too close to living composers to have perspective. Besides, assessing greatness is the last thing on your mind when you are listening to an involving, exciting or baffling new piece.

[BRASSO]

Did you read the article where he said....

No. But that's an interesting take.

[BRASSO]

Bartok is a VERY undervalued composer.

Yes, he was. Only 10 people showed up at his Funeral... 8, if we don't count his Wife and Son.

Edited January 28, 2011 by BRASSO

[NR_Ohiobando]

Yes, he was. Only 10 people showed up at his Funeral... 8, if we don't count his Wife and Son.

For the record, Brasso's not really being a troll here, that's actually a true fact.

It's also true that people in America were not as interested in his music as perhaps they should have been. Though, considering the culture of America and the world at the time, I don't really find this surprising.

As an aside, Bartok didn't adjust very well to America after moving away from the Nazi movement in Europe

...honestly I found it surprising that Schoenberg wasn't on the list

Edited January 28, 2011 by NR_Ohiobando

[BRASSO]

For the record, Brasso's not really being a troll here, that's actually a true fact.

It's also true that people in America were not as interested in his music as perhaps they should have been. Though, considering the culture of America and the world at the time, I don't really find this surprising.

As an aside, Bartok didn't adjust very well to America after moving away from the Nazi movement in Europe

...honestly I found it surprising that Schoenberg wasn't on the list

It's also in somewhat of dispute as to whether or not Bartok actually died " in povety " or not. Some say yes, some say no. Bartok's works were not commercially popular nor commercially successful. As a result, he pretty much depended on the charity of friends to keep him financially above water. He had virtually no money of his own to go toward his medical care later in life. While rich in talent, he was of lower income.

Edited January 28, 2011 by BRASSO

[lindap]

Anthony Tommasini, a classical music critic for the New York Times, last week completed a project of listing "the greatest composers" of all time, and they were:

1. Bach

2. Beethoven

3. Mozart

4. Schubert

5. Debussy

6. Stravinsky

7. Brahms

8. Verdi

9. Wagner

10. Bartok

So Bartok is appreciated in some corners.

I read the New York Times off and on, found the Anthony Tommasini article a week or so ago. Thank you! My albums were boxed in the garage for decades. I listened to a few albums December 2010 after buying a new record player, one of which is the album below. Simply a coincidence; there's 13 composers on my album including Bach and Bartok ;)

[Bruckner8]

I little birdie gave me some data, from which I ranked the top 10 composers by count of concerts on which one of their orchestral pieces was performed between 1988 and 2008 (includes concerti and choral works w/orch):

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

Beethoven, Ludwig Van

Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich

Brahms, Johannes

Dvorak, Antonin

Strauss, Richard

Ravel, Maurice

Haydn, Franz Joseph

Stravinsky, Igor

Mendelssohn, Felix

if you want to know which pieces were in the top 10:

Beethoven: SYMPHONY NO. 7 IN A MAJOR, OPUS 92

Beethoven: SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN C MINOR, OPUS 67

Tchaikovsky: CONCERTO IN D MAJOR FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA, OPUS 35

Tchaikovsky: SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN E MINOR, OP. 64

Beethoven: SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN E-FLAT MAJOR, OPUS 55

Dvorak: SYMPHONY NO. 9 IN E MINOR, OP.95 (NEW WORLD)

Brahms: SYMPHONY NO. 4 IN E MINOR, OP.98

Beethoven: CONCERTO, VIOLIN, IN D MAJOR, OPUS 61

Brahms: SYMPHONY NO. 2 IN D MAJOR, OP.73

Berlioz: SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE, OPUS 14

Isn't it interesting how Mozart is No 1, but none of his works makes the top 10? Just goes to show how prolific he was...amazing that he died at age 35.

Also note that composition No 1 has never been performed by a drum corps. In fact, only half of the top 10 are represented. And nothing by FJ Haydn has even been performed.

But why do great music like Haydn's Creation or Brahms 2, when we can do WSS again?

EDIT: Anton Bruckner came in 39th place, out of 319 composers with at least 15 performances over the 21 years. That's between Ralph Vaughan-Williams (38) and Edvard Grieg (40), both of whom have been well-represented in drum corps.

Edited January 28, 2011 by Bruckner8

[N.E. Brigand]

A little birdie gave me some data, from which I ranked the top 10 composers by count of concerts on which one of their orchestral pieces was performed between 1988 and 2008 (includes concerti and choral works w/orch)...

Interesting figures. You might also like to see a comparison (part one, part two) of the most-played living composers of 1900-1909, 1950-1959, and 2000-2009 and how the earlier ones have held up, or not. Some fascinating notes on changing tastes.

[BRASSO]

Anthony Tommasini, a classical music critic for the New York Times, last week completed a project of listing "the greatest composers" of all time, and they were:

1. Bach

2. Beethoven

3. Mozart

4. Schubert

5. Debussy

6. Stravinsky

7. Brahms

8. Verdi

9. Wagner

10. Bartok

So Bartok is appreciated in some corners.

I'n generally not a proponent of quotas, " political correctness ",and such silly nonsense, but I do find it rather odd that a Music Critic, a White, Male Caucasian himself, lists not a single Music Composer on his list here than is other than a White, Male Causasian. There is not a single Music Composer of Color on this list. Im not struck by the absence so much of recent Music Composers, as much as I'm struck by the absence of persons of Color. Where there not great Music Composers from long ago from the Far East ? From the Continent of Africa ? The Continent of Asia ? He excluded more than 3/ 4ths of the Music World in his list. According to this Music Critic, all the Greatest Music Composers of the World were from.... the West ? And all were White ? I also could not help but notice that this Music Critic writes for the New York Times. How fitting is that, when the New York Times Editorial Board frequently wants to lecture people about the need to be..... " inclusive ". Did anybody else find it odd that this list of " The Greatest Music Composers of all time " had not a single Women or Persons of Color on it ? And that it was put together by a White, Male, Caucasian, Music Critic employed by the New York Times, to boot ? The most important attribute of an thoroughly educated person is to possess intellectual curiosity ie, to always think of the question... " how can this be true ? ".

Edited January 28, 2011 by BRASSO