# Various ways 19th century composers predicted the 20th century



## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Just had an idea. Probably been a thread on this before, but while listening to Alkan's Le festin D'esope and Concerto for Solo Piano, I was remembering how radical I realized his music to be when I first got into him. 

Bruckner was frequently far ahead of his time, despite his strong connection to the past and in fact because he was so firmly rooted in the past in part.

Brahms has always had a very modernistic sound to him to my ears. Its how he is so good at using strange un-melodic motifs.

Emmanuel Chabrier was a strong predictor of impressionism and his rhythm seems to anticipate Stravinsky though there is no direct correlation and it comes mostly from his visit to Spain.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

It's probably obvious, but (added to your list) Beethoven, Liszt, Berlioz, Wagner, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, etc. also did things in their time which had great impact not only during their own lifetimes, but also later. Mention virtually any major composer & they did something to either synthesise musical knowledge of the past or to innovate and move music forwards (in cases of the ones I mentioned, they did both). I think these kinds of connections, between the composers & their contemporaries & also the aspects of the past which they were interested in, are the things that really interest me about music & it's very rich history...


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Sid James said:


> It's probably obvious, but (added to your list) Beethoven, Liszt, Berlioz, Wagner, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, etc. also did things in their time which had great impact not only during their own lifetimes, but also later. Mention virtually any major composer & they did something to either synthesise musical knowledge of the past or to innovate and move music forwards (in cases of the ones I mentioned, they did both). I think these kinds of connections, between the composers & their contemporaries & also the aspects of the past which they were interested in, are the things that really interest me about music & it's very rich history...


Agreed.

But, "Sid", you're confusing me.

First, you were Andre. Then you were Sid James. Then you were Sid James, the artist formerly known as Andre.

You were a cat, then a comedian, then a lizard, now a bird.

What's next?

(I originally typed, "What's nest?" Freudian slip?  )


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## rrudolph (Sep 15, 2011)

If you want to count Scriabin as a 19th century composer (he lived 15 years into the twentieth century), he was involved with atonality and proto-serial writing before anybody, even Schoenberg.


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