# Most Recommended Contemporary Orchestral Works



## mahlernerd (Jan 19, 2020)

This thread is for works written from 1945 to the present day that feature and orchestra. These can be concertos, symphonies, suites, and really any works written in this time frame that features an orchestra. For me, two works that I really love are Schnittke's 1st Symphony, and J.L. Adams' Pulitzer Prize-winning _Become Ocean_. I want to expand on my collection of orchestral works from this time frame, so if there are any orchestral works that you guys like from this time period, feel free to put them down in this thread!


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Some of my favorites:

Carter - Cello Concerto
Davies - Symphony No. 1
Dutllleux - Symphonies 1 and 2, Tout un monde lointain
Gubaidulina - Offertorium, In Tempens Praesens
Lutoslawski - Symphony No. 3, Concerto for Orchestra
Messiaen - Turangalila-Symphonie, Eclairs sur la, L’Ascension, Des Canyons Aux Etoiles
Saariaho - Le dom le vrai sens
Norgard - Symphonies 3 and 6
Stockhausen - Gruppen
Takemitsu - From Me Flows What You Call Time, A Flock Descends Into a Pentagonal Garden

That will do for now


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Some of my favorites -


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Lutoslawski: Symphonies 2-4, concerto for orchestra
Ligeti: Chamber Concerto, cello concerto, violin concerto, Atmospheres
Roberto Gerhard: same works as Luto
Takemitsu: A String Around Autumn, Archipelago S. for 21 players
Pendercki: Polymorphia, Symphony No.1
Panufnik: Bassoon Concerto
Bacewicz: violin concerto no.7
Carter: Variations For Orchestra


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I might need to leave these to others. There are a lot of works I love that qualify (it covers a 75 year period!) but as I don't greatly like either of the works mentioned in the OP I doubt my suggestions will be helpful. There are lots of Schnittke works that I do like and it does seem like the suggestion of Ligeti might be good.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

The Schnittke symphony no.1 is fun for a couple of listens but I much prefer many of his other works including his first cello concerto, viola concerto, concerto grosso no.1, cello, and violin sonatas, and most of the other symphonies.


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## Ravn (Jan 6, 2020)

These are the first 12 I thought when reading your post. In alphabetical order

- Adams: Harmonielehre
- Berio: Sinfonia
- Berio: Rendering
- Gubaidulina: Offertium
- Gubaidulina: In Tempus Praesens
- Lachenmann: Schwankungen am Rand
- Nordheim: Epitaffio
- Penderecki: St. Luke Passion
- Penderecki: Symphony 7 "Seven Gates of Jerusalem"
- Pettersson: Symphony 8
- Rautavaara: Symphony 7 "Angel of Light"
- Saariaho: D'Om Le Vrai Sens


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## mahlernerd (Jan 19, 2020)

Ravn said:


> These are the first 12 I thought when reading your post. In alphabetical order
> 
> - Adams: Harmonielehre
> - Berio: Sinfonia
> ...


Believe it or not, I do quite like a lot of those works as well! Thanks!


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Hope you like some of these:

Uaxuctum & Aion by Giacinto Scelsi
Jolivet's Symphony No.3, & his Violin Concerto
Livre des Prodiges & T'Haran-Ngo by Maurice Ohana
Blomdahl's Sisyphus
Richard Rodney Bennett's Violin Concerto & Symphony No.1
Danzas Secretas by Luis de Pablo
Geysir, Detifoss, Hafis & Baldr by Jon Leifs
Dallapiccola's 3 Questions with 2 Answers & Dialoghi
Birds in the Morning by Erik Bergman
Friedrich Cerha's Instants & Percussion Concerto
Malcolm Arnold's Symphony No.7
Intersection 1 by Morton Feldman
Harrison Birtwistle's The Cry of Anubis & Night's Black Bird
Star Children by Alun Hoddinott
Geert van Keulen's Tympan
Invenzione Concertata & Flute Concerto by Goffredo Petrassi
Benjamin Frankel's Symphony No. 2
Suite No.1 for piano & orchestra by Mikis Theodorakis
Isang Yun's Cello Concerto, Flute Concerto & Symphony No.2
Nykken & Harp Concerto by Geirr Tveitt
3 Faces of Electra & Wings of the Highest Tower by Meyer Kupferman


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## norstick (May 18, 2020)

To add a few...
Haas - In Vain
Czernowin - Esh
Harvey - Speakings
Saariaho - Oltra Mar
Saariaho - Orion
Huber - Ecce Homines
Neuwirth - Lost Highway Suite
Dusapin - Aufgang
Hosokawa - Woven Dreams
Murail - Le partage des eaux


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## GucciManeIsTheNewWebern (Jul 29, 2020)

Peter Sculthorpe is incredible. Blending the didgeridoo into orchestral music is a work of pure genius and the range of expression on that instrument is out of this world. The way the didgeridoo can express wailing despair and the sheer cosmic force of nature is simply mind-blowing. His pieces in general are all just teeming with color and evoke such vivid images.

I can't recommend the orchestral piece Earth Cry enough or just making any kind of foray into his music. I only have a cursory knowledge of his music myself, but it's so amazing that I gotta look into his deep cuts. It really warrants a listen.


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## Ellis Thompson (Jun 5, 2020)

Maxwell Davies: An Orkney Wedding, With Sunrise - very atmospheric
Leroy Anderson: The Typewriter - something a bit quirkier!


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Obviously it's all a matter of personal taste, but (aside from some of the pieces already mentioned above), I would recommend that you listen to:

*Hovhaness: Fra Angelico*. Every composer should have a masterpiece and, for me, this 15-minute orchestral piece is definitely just that.
*Shchedrin: Anna Karenina ballet*. A proper grand ballet with all the emotional and illustrative highlights that the genre really thrives on.
*Skempton - Lento*. Another short orchestral work that has the most beautiful themes so often missing from contemporary music.
*Henze - Piano Concerto No.2*. A massive work that (for me) is one of the very best piano concertos of the last 100 years.
*Kilar - Exodus*. Essentially just a massive 20-minute crescendo for orchestra and choir (think 'Bolero' but bigger!)
*Arvo Part - Credo*. Another short piece, but a riot! It's scored for orchestra, choir and piano. Look out for the Bach theme incorporated into the work.
*Rautavaara - Cantus Arcticus*. Essentially a concerto for taped bird sounds (mostly waders and waterfowl from Northern Europe) and orchestra, this is by no means as ridiculous as it may sound. In fact it is a beautiful and majestic work, definitely worth listening to.


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

My Favorite Orchestral Works Post-1945

*Boulez*:_ Le Marteau sans maître_ 1955
*Barber*: _Knoxville: Summer of 1915_ 1948
*Britten*: _Curlew River_ 1964
*Shostakovich*: _Symphonies #10-15_ 1953, 1957, 1961, 1962, 1969, 1971
*Copland*: _Symphony #3_ 1946
*Messiaen*: _Turangalila-Symphony_ 1948
*Glass*: _Akhnaten_ 1983
*Adams*: _Nixon in China_ 1987
*Gorecki*: _Symphony of Sorrowful Songs_ 1976
*Rochberg*: _Violin Concerto_ 1974, restored 2004
*R. Strauss*: _Four Last Songs_ 1948
*Randall Thompson*: _Frostiana_ 1959 (piano & chorus), 1965 (orchestrated version)


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## longgone (Jun 6, 2019)

This is a relatively long period (it gets longer each year...) so let me break this into abitrary segments. Also, I don't mention things that were already mentionned, so the relative scarcity of works from e.g. Shostakovich, Messiaen and Ligeti reflects their relative popularity.

1945-1960
*Strauss, Richard* - _Metamorphosen_ (1945)
*Bartók, Béla* - _Piano concerto No 3_ (1945)
*Bacewicz, Grażyna* - _Piano concerto_ (1947)
*Bernstein, Leonard* - _The Age of anxiety_ (1949)
*Lyatoshynsky, Boris Mykolayovych* - _Symphony No 3_ (1951)
*Prokofiev, Sergei* - _Symphony No 7_ (1952)
*Takemitsu, Tōru* - _Requiem for string orchestra_ (1957)
*Tippett, Michael* - _Symphony No 2_ (1957)
*Boulez, Pierre* - _Pli selon pli_ (1959)
*Dutilleux, Henri* - _Le Double_ (1959)
*Shostakovich, Dmitri* - _Cello concerto No 1_ (1959)

1960-1979
*Dutilleux, Henri* - _Métaboles_ (1964)
*Nørgård, Per* - _Voyage into the golden screen_ (1968)
*Bacewicz, Grażyna* - _Viola concerto_ (1968)
*Lutosławski, Witold* - _Cello concerto_ (1969)
*Berio, Luciano* - _Concerto for two pianos and orchestra_ (1973)
*Carter, Elliott* - _A Symphony of three orchestras_ (1976)
*Ohana, Maurice* - _Anneau du Tamarít_ (1977)

1980-1999
*Grisey, Gérard* - _Transitoires_ (1981) from _Les espaces acoustiques_
*Ohana, Maurice* - _Piano concerto_ (1981)
*Saariaho, Kaija* - _Verblendungen_ (1984)
*Yun, Isang* - *Symphony No 2*
*Gubaidulina, Sofia* - _Stimmen... Verstummen..._ (1985)
*Boulez, Pierre* - _Répons_ (1985)
*Murail, Tristan* - _Time and again_ (1985)
*Kurtág, György* - _Quasi una Fantasia for Orchestra_ (1988)
*Keulen, Geert van* - _Tympan_ (1990)
*Coates, Gloria* - _Chiaroscuro_ (1990)
*Takemitsu, Tōru* - _Archipelago S._ (1993)
*Kurtág, György* - _Stele_ (1994)
*Nørgård, Per* - _Concerto in due tempi_ (1996)
*Saariaho, Kaija* - _Graal theatre_ (1997)
*Haas, Georg Friedrich* - _Violin concerto_ (1998)

2000-2009
*Chin, Unsuk* - _Violin concerto_ (2001)
*Lindberg, Magnus* - _Clarinet concerto_ (2002)
*Dusapin, Pascal* - _A quia_ (2002)
*Birtwistle, Harrison* - _The Shadow of night_ (2002)
*Pécou, Thierry* - _Symphonie du Jaguar_ (2003)
*Nørgård, Per* - _Symphony No 7_ (2006)
*Corigliano, John* - _Conjurer_ (2007)
*Gubaidulina, Sofia* - _Fachwerk_ (2009)

2010-2016
*Chin, Unsuk* - _Gougalōn_ (2011)
*Davies, Peter Maxwell* - _Symphony No 9_ (2012)
*Murail, Tristan* - _Le Désenchantemant du monde_ (2012)
*Chin, Unsuk* - _Cello concerto_ (2013)
*Francesconi, Luca* - _Duende_ (2013)
*Saunders, Rebecca* - _Alba_ (2014)
*Birtwistle, Harrison* - _Deep Time_ (2016)
*Howard, Emily* - _Torus_ (2016)
*Gubaidulina, Sofia* - _Triple concerto_ (2016)
*Norman, Andrew* - _Play_ (2016)
*Ammann, Dieter* - _Gran Toccata_ (2016)


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## Oscar South (Aug 6, 2020)

I've been enjoying the works of a composer called 'Erkki-Sven Tüür' recently.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Jennifer Higdon's music is marvelous, and she's still going strong. This is just a short list:

Violin Concerto
Blue Cathedral
Oboe Concerto
Concerto for Orchestra
Percussion Concerto
Viola Concerto


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