# Best of the past decade!



## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

Hello! So, I know absolutely nothing about what is going on in classical music today. Or really, anything after about 1950 lol. Pretty much all I know if film scores, but I'm really not into those much at all. I really want to like modern-day music though! So I would love to hear what you all think are some of the best recent works out there. Who are the big composers out there right now? Youtube or equivalent links would be much appreciated!


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

I do like some of John Adams's works from the last decade, specifically _The Dharma at Big Sur_ composed in 2003:


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## Guest (Jun 3, 2012)

Stargazer said:


> Hello! So, I know absolutely nothing about what is going on in classical music today.


Then you haven't been reading TC threads. Now, the views you get there may be gross distortions, but that's what you're going to get in any online thread about any topic, so....



Stargazer said:


> Or really, anything after about 1950 lol.


Better get busy, then.



Stargazer said:


> I really want to like modern-day music though!


Then you'll get out there and do some listening.



Stargazer said:


> So I would love to hear what you all think are some of the best recent works out there. Who are the big composers out there right now? Youtube or equivalent links would be much appreciated!


You're losing me here. You had everything in place for exploring music for yourself, and then you push it all off onto us? (Well, I'm sure we'll oblige.)

In any case, "the best recent works," which will naturally vary from poster to poster, may not be coming from "the big composers," unless you've somehow already defined "big" as "those people writing the best recent works."

And the works that end up thrilling you the most might not be works that anyone posting here likes or even knows about. On a similar thread on another board, I posted a list of works. Another poster, who's a big fan of contemporary, had never heard of any of them. He'd never even heard of the composers, and these were some of them quite big.

Bronius Kutavičius, Lokys
Sachiko M, 1:2
Otomo Yoshihide, Turntable Solo
Michèle Bokanowski, L'étoile absinthe
Ludger Brümmer, Lizard Point
Zbigniew Karkowski, World as Will
Francisco López, Untitled #180
Jérôme Noetinger and eRikm, What a Wonderful World
Beatriz Ferreyra, Un fil invisible
Miguel Azguime, Itinerário do Sal

See what I mean?


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I think a reasonable place to start would be with the thread, Exploring Modern and Contemporary Music. Not all the music is contemporary, but there are many posts which link to contemporary works. There are quite a few youtube links so you can easily sample the music. You'll see a variety of genres since not everyone has similar interests. Good luck with your listening.


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## StevenOBrien (Jun 27, 2011)




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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

One of my favourite works in the last 10 years is Tristan Murail's Terre d'Ombre


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## chrislowski (Aug 20, 2011)

Here's some of my favourites of recent years (at lease ones I could find on Youtube):

Kalevi Aho's - Clarinet Concerto:






Gubdaidulina - The Light at the End:






Rautavaara - Symphony 8






Silvestrov - Epitaph






Tigran Mansurian - Testament






That last one was written for string quartet, but this version is a cello and piano sonata.

Well, I hope you like at least one of these...


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)




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## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

I appreciate all the input so far! I haven't nearly listened to all of them yet, but so far I particularly enjoyed the Dharma at Big Sur and Aho's clarinet concerto!


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Osvaldo Golijov:











Steve Reich:











Valentin Silvestrov:


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Corigliano's Symphony No. 3 "Circus Maximus," composed in 2004. I heard it live end of last year performed by my school of music's top wind orchestra, and it was brilliant. It's one of those pieces you have to _experience_, not just listen to a recording of. There are lots of visuals and antiphonal instruments.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Daniel Catan:











Morten Lauridsen:











Henryck Gorecki:


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Kaija Saariaho:






Giacinto Scelsi:






György Ligeti:






Laurent Petitgirard:






Emmanuel Nunes:


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## chee_zee (Aug 16, 2010)

this thread just goes to show there is the amount of good music out there is just TOO DAMN HIGH! I will never be able to deliberately listen to half of this in a lifetime. I propose we all become buddhists so as to reincarnate.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Jennifer Higdon:






Joseph Schwantner:











Toshiro Mayuzumi:


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Takashi YOSHIMATSU:






Robert H.P. Platz:






Matthias Pintscher:






Philip Glass:


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## chrislowski (Aug 20, 2011)

I highly recommend the BIS cd, coupled with Nielsen's clarinet concerto, Martin Frost plays like a madman!


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## chrislowski (Aug 20, 2011)

some guy said:


> Then you haven't been reading TC threads. Now, the views you get there may be gross distortions, but that's what you're going to get in any online thread about any topic, so....
> 
> Better get busy, then.
> 
> ...


I think most people have never heard of them because your posting these names on the wrong forum.

I don't want to get into an argument about what exactly "Classical" music is but I think most people on this forum, and probably most people who would call themselves classical music fans, would not say those composer's you name are classical composers. Sure, good music is good music and genre shouldn't matter so much, but unfortunately for a lot of people genre does matter.

Karkowski for instance has a written a lot of noise music - sounding closer to Merzbow - than a contemporary "classical" composer like Kancheli, for example. A lot of the other composer's sound more like ambient and electronic music than anything else. Also early industrial comes to mind also, SPK, Throbbing Gristle, Lustmord, Nurse With Wound... Fans of these artists are more likely to appreciate the artists you mention than your average Classical fan. Well in my opinion anyway...


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