# Top 5 post-WW2 composers ie. those born after it's start



## Svelte Silhouette (Nov 7, 2013)

I've never started a thread before but my response at Post 172 on http://www.talkclassical.com/28042-top-5-composers-12.html prompted this, so

Please tell us your Top 5 post-WW2 composers ie. those born after it's start and always enjoy listening to new music.

My top 5: 1. John Tavener; 2. Michael Nyman; 3. Philip Glass; 4. Brian Eno; 5. Lennon-McCartney


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Hi, Haut Parleur.

Are you looking for member's favorite composers who were born after WW II?
Or born prior to WWII, but didn't start writing music until after 1945?


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Haut Parleur, I post my list with certain cautions in mind. First, my list:

1. John Adams (b. 1947) -- _Harmonielehre, Dharma at Big Sur_
2. Osvaldo Golijov (b. 1960) -- _Pasion segun san Marcos_, _Oceana_
3. Unsuk Chin (b. 1961) -- _Violin Concerto_, _Cello Concerto_
4. Michael Daugherty (b. 1954) -- _Fire and Blood_, _Route 66_
5. Paul Moravec (b. 1957) -- _Tempest Fantasy_, _Chamber Symphony_

Now the cautions: Your cut-off date is such that it excludes a number of living composers whose works I enjoy (e.g. Norgard, Rautavaara, Reich). Second, there's a big drop-off between my #1 and the rest. I have a fair number of Adams' works that I enjoy a lot (e.g. Harmonielehre, Dharma at Big Sur, Nixon in China, Shaker Loops, Hallehujah Junction). He's written for a wide range of genre. As for the others, I have only a sprinkling of their works, and so I can't exactly judge their full corpus. The works I've heard, I respect and enjoy. I've not done enough to explore more recent contemporary European composers. Most of those I've been exploring are somewhat older than your cut-off date (Gubaidulina, Rihm); others who are post-WW II are ones that I know only a sprinkling of works (Vasks, Dusapin). Another caution comes from the fact that thanks to the "New Generations" thread, a thread devoted to composers born after 1970, I'm encountering a whole batch of interesting young composesrs. Here's the link to it:

http://www.talkclassical.com/31712-new-generations.html

It's full of links (see especially those of SimonMZ).


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Maybe

Kaija Saariaho, 
Tristan Keuris, 
Pawel Symanski, 
Vyacheslav Artyomov, 
Tristan Murail.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

A few other names:

William Duckworth
John Adams
Christopher Rouse
Wolfgang Rihm

Zappa would qualify, but someone else should make his case.


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## Svelte Silhouette (Nov 7, 2013)

Prodromides said:


> Hi, Haut Parleur. Are you looking for member's favorite composers who were born after WW II?
> Or born prior to WWII, but didn't start writing music until after 1945?


 Those born after 1939.


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## Svelte Silhouette (Nov 7, 2013)

GreenMamba said:


> Zappa would qualify, but someone else should make his case.


I quite like John Adams as voted for by a couple of folk and guess if Lennon-McCartney can be in the pack then it'd be fair to allow Zappa in if only after his band parodied the former's Sgt Pepper offering so well. In my youth I quite liked some of Zappa's stuff but grew up out of it and so can't really extol it's virtues nowadays. So, over to someone else for that besides which Adams has caused me a need for a rejig as he better belongs before Glass meaning Eno has to drop out of my Top 5 as was unfairly placed before Lennon-McCartney anyway and they simply have to stay in as they started me down this thread.

Apologies Alypius re the cutoff date but it's just another imaginary line in the sand to ease the pain of Lennon-McCartney being included on the http://www.talkclassical.com/28042-top-5-composers-12.html thread for some as they're safer on this one maybe


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

OK - favorite composers born after 1939:

1) Eero Hameenniemi (b. 1951)
2) Alessandro Solbiati (b. 1956)
3) Edith Canat de Chizy (b. 1950)
4) Magnus Lindberg (b.1958)
5) Luca Francesconi (b. 1956)

2 Finnish men, 2 Italian men and 1 French woman.


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## worov (Oct 12, 2012)

Lowell Liebermann, George Tsontakis, John Corigliano (born in 1938, don't start nitpicking), Howard Skempton, Arvo Pärt.


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