# What year did music peak?



## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

I was asked this a while ago in a practice interview and thought it would be a good question to pose here. Which year, if you really had to choose, represents the zenith of musical accomplishment?

I would say 1824 because of a certain piece of music being finished in that year


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

No such thing.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

1723 for obvious reasons.


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## Guest (Sep 19, 2012)

What about you? When did _you_ peak?

You're still alive, so you don't know?

Exactly.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

That's very hard. I think its more like a mountain range, with many 'peak' years.

I don't always know things by year, but I do by decade. Eg. in the 1910's you had Debussy's 'Jeux,' Ravel's 'Daphnis et chloe,' Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring,' Schoenberg's 'Pierrot Lunaire,' Sibelius' 4th and 5th symphonies, Bartok's 'Bluebeard's Castle,' a number of key works by Prokofiev (eg. Sym.#1 and Violin Concerto #1), and so on.

But for a work I think 'has it all,' I'd nominate *Monteverdi's Vespers, *first performed in *1610*. Its a combination of many genres, from choral and song of course, but also aspects of the newly emerging opera and concerto/sonata (instrumental) genres. I also like how it fuses veneration of Mary with passion, the way some of the guy soloists sing about her in this, she may as well be like a lover they are wooing. In any case, Monteverdi doesn't see a boundary between genres and he seems to be saying that Mary is not a stone idol, but like a real person with these very human qualities. & that's just the start of this work, I can go on about it for ages.


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## Mephistopheles (Sep 3, 2012)

What was this practice interview for? It seems like a terrible question, or a trick question to which the answer is, "Don't be so silly."


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Mephistopheles said:


> What was this practice interview for? It seems like a terrible question, or a trick question to which the answer is, "Don't be so silly."


Yeah but it could be testing a musician's knowledge of music history. I don't necessarily think history is just made up of dates, but if it leads to a conversation that's broader than just the answer '1824 when blah blah blah happened' it can be worthwhile. I mean in more broadly talking about the interviewee's interests or musical taste, why they chose that year, that sort of thing.


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## Ondine (Aug 24, 2012)

Ramako said:


> I would say 1824 because of a certain piece of music being finished in that year


I think 1824 could be. Beethoven's 9th. isn't it?

Than Symphony with its chorus including Shiller's poem; the size; the sense of daring, of audacity, of courage -in my opinion- set this oeuvre as peak, at least for Symphonies. It was very later, until Mahler, that the audacity was undertaken again.

What do you think?


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

I can't get a clear picture, but it must be somewhere between 2025 and 2040.


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## Guest (Sep 19, 2012)

Ondine said:


> What do you think?


I think that there was plenty of audacity between Beethoven and Mahler.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

The answer is 1859 when Wagner happened upon the perfect amount of harmonic progression to induce maximal emotional response. 

Since then we've just been floundering.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

It peaked in 2023 when CoAG composed his famous Concerto.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Ramako said:


> I was asked this a while ago in a practice interview and thought it would be a good question to pose here. Which year, if you really had to choose, represents the zenith of musical accomplishment?
> 
> I would say 1824 because of a certain piece of music being finished in that year


About 1947-1948 when John Cage wrote _4'33"_ because music came full circle; when early man wanted coordinated sound in the caves/out in the fields, to modern man wanting "anything" can be music.


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

1780s-1790s (Classic)
and
1870s-1890s (Romantic)


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

Mephistopheles said:


> What was this practice interview for? It seems like a terrible question, or a trick question to which the answer is, "Don't be so silly."


Well, it was probably a bit of history knowledge, but also raising the larger issue of 'progress' in music. I never really got there though because I failed in general. Fortunately in the real thing they asked me about Beethoven :lol:


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## dionisio (Jul 30, 2012)

Peak? No such thing yet thank God.

But from times to times, music can be quite asleep.

Normally i say that since 1991 no music has been composed worth of such status as before. And i say 1991, when Freddie Mercury died, to inlcude all music (i mean music and not that trash we hear on the radio).

But, like i said, it comes and goes.


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## Rasa (Apr 23, 2009)

This falls firmly into the category of questions like "What's you're favourite period" and "what is your favourite composer" or "who was the best composer".


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## Renaissance (Jul 10, 2012)

1750... When the music history changed its course.


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## dionisio (Jul 30, 2012)

Renaissance said:


> 1750... When the music history changed its course.


Bach's Death of Salieri's Birth?


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## Renaissance (Jul 10, 2012)

:lol: Good one !


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## brianwalker (Dec 9, 2011)

It's hard to date Bach's works, so, with the dates available to me, 1882.


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## Petwhac (Jun 9, 2010)

Right here on this page!


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

Petwhac said:


> Right here on this page!
> 
> View attachment 8337


Good choice!


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Let's see, I'm set to complete my world-ending opera in 2035, so we've got around 23 years to go yet.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I'll just reiterate what other fellow members have said - there have been many landmark years and it would be impossible for me to choose just one. Maybe every year from sometime in the 17th century has seen at least one masterpiece written or perhaps some sort of musical innovation that had a resounding effect thereafter.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Since 2012 when Billy McBride first made it big on talkclassical and youtube.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Crudblud said:


> Let's see, I'm set to complete my world-ending opera in 2035, so we've got around 23 years to go yet.


You will attempt what Scriabin failed at?


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

It can be peaking all the time. It depends on disposition.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

clavichorder said:


> You will attempt what Scriabin failed at?


Yes, but I will employ brevity so that I might actually live to complete it.


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## ToneCluster (Sep 17, 2012)

I guess you can only begin to consider a specific year in which music peaked if you think that there's been a decline: personally, I think it's impossible to assign a single peak to the continuing evolution of music. I like the 'multi-peak' idea though, although it's all subjective


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

2012. It's downhill from here.


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## juergen (Apr 9, 2012)

1896 .


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Year Zero.










... or ...

year 1990, during which Chou Wen-Chung composed _Windswept Peaks_ for violin, cello, clarinet & piano:










http://www.allmusic.com/album/echoes-from-the-gorge-music-by-chou-wen-chung-mw0001791423


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## TrazomGangflow (Sep 9, 2011)

I don't really think any one piece is great enough to justify when the year is that music peaked even if it is the 9th symphony.


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

TrazomGangflow said:


> I don't really think any one piece is great enough to justify when the year is that music peaked even if it is the 9th symphony.


Of course it is 

My other choice would be 1770 and thereabouts. That gives Haydn's symphonies 43, 44 and 45, his op. 20 and also sees Beethoven's birth, although that's cheating a little :lol:


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

1996, when punk band Zoinks! released their album _Stranger Anxiety_.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

BurningDesire said:


> 1996, when punk band Zoinks! released their album _Stranger Anxiety_.


Zounds > Zoinks


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

1986 - Metallica - Master of Puppets
1979 - Pink Floyd - The Wall
1973 - Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
1968 - Beatles - The White Album
Edit I forgot about Spinal Tap.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

neoshredder said:


> 1986 - Metallica - Master of Puppets
> 1979 - Pink Floyd - The Wall
> 1973 - Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
> 1968 - Beatles - The White Album
> Edit I forgot about Spinal Tap.


This thread is for the peak of music, not the worst albums of all time.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

Crudblud said:


> Zounds > Zoinks


pft  Zounds aren't bad, they kinda remind me of The Clash (I like the Clash better)


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Crudblud said:


> This thread is for the peak of music, not the worst albums of all time.


You are free to your opinion but your opinion is WRONG!


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

Crudblud said:


> This thread is for the peak of music, not the worst albums of all time.


ouch XD I think they're pretty good albums. They're no "Demon Days" or "Joe's Garage" or "In Utero", but still mostly really good music :3


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

We can see the decline happening.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Asking "when music peaked" is like asking "When will the last wave in the oceans come ?"


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

BurningDesire said:


> pft  Zounds aren't bad, they kinda remind me of The Clash (I like the Clash better)


I was going to say to you and neoshredder* not to take what I'm saying so seriously, but this... this is too much.

*still stands


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

A question for another thread:

*What year did Talkclassical peak?*


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

This is actually an interesting topic.

1982 or so. Y'all heard


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

The question itself is the peak of naive / ridiculous.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

neoshredder said:


> It peaked in 2023 when CoAG composed his famous Concerto.


_@COAG_ was in my mind when I made my post. Not only will he have matured both in body and in spirit, he will be well into his post-modern period.


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

PetrB said:


> The question itself is the peak of naive / ridiculous.


I assume that that means that you don't believe in measurable quality in music.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> About 1947-1948 when John Cage wrote _4'33"_ because music came full circle; when early man wanted coordinated sound in the caves/out in the fields, to modern man wanting "anything" can be music.


Cage didn't write it in the in 1947-1948 o3o


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