# Contemporary pieces for the complete novice



## Lucifer Saudade (May 19, 2015)

What contemporary pieces would YOU personally recommend to the complete beginner? 

Keep in mind that the hypothetical newbie at hand has never heard any contemporary (or modern) Classical music and your goal is to draw him in, not to alienate him. 

I realize individual listeners differ widely and so does the teacher's way of going about recommendations - I leave it up to you to form your own judgement as to what is suitable. 


~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feel free to post commentaries about if you enjoyed some of the pieces. I hope at least some of us would find something they like


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## Ilarion (May 22, 2015)

I would probably begin with exposing the newbie to "The Hildegard Motets" by Frank Ferko(b.1950).


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

... Also bear in mind that people differ on what deserves to be called modern music, too!

Among the most recent "modern" things I've particularly enjoyed are two brand-new releases: Bang On A Can All-Stars' "Field Recordings" (https://bangonacan.bandcamp.com/album/field-recordings) and Roomful Of Teeth's "Render" (https://roomfulofteeth.bandcamp.com/album/render).

Other suggestions you'll receive will be for music so utterly different from the above that you might wonder what on earth's going on. I sometimes wonder that too!

Actually the first two "modern" things I listened to, twenty-something years ago, were Philip Glass's "Glassworks" (



) and Stockhausen's "Hymnen" (



). Only one remained with me. The lesson I've taken from that (and my many encounters with newer music since then) is that the music of recent times is just too diverse to know what will appeal to a particular person. So *all recommendations are just a shot in the dark*.

Let me also give a plug for a couple of my polls on TC, relating to the music of 1969 and 1976. These are snapshots of what's remained popular from those years, and cover quite a broad range of music.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

For the OP: You may want to check these recommendations out.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/R270A7LZ80KMZO/ref=cm_srch_res_rpsy_alt_3


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## Guest (Jun 10, 2015)

Please give 5 varied examples of music you ALREADY like. Then the TC Predictor Program can more accurately diagnose your needs.


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## Lucifer Saudade (May 19, 2015)

KenOC said:


> For the OP: You may want to check these recommendations out.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/R270A7LZ80KMZO/ref=cm_srch_res_rpsy_alt_3


But aren't most of these modern composers? Contemporary is the last 40 years or so (or at least the last 70 max).


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Lucifer Saudade said:


> But aren't most of these modern composers? Contemporary is the last 40 years or so (or at least the last 70 max).


Whatever your desires may be. In Mozart's time, "contemporary" meant the last three years, more or less.


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## dzc4627 (Apr 23, 2015)

stravinsky i'd say. the good ol' rite of spring is kind of a gateway to the drug that is 20th century music.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Takashi Yoshimatsu - Threnody to Toki


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## Lucifer Saudade (May 19, 2015)

Dim7 said:


> Takashi Yoshimatsu - Threnody to Toki


That's a surprisingly accessible choice. I liked it personally


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Spectralism, New Complexity and Neo-Romanticism seem to be all the rage these days. Grisey, Ferneyhough and Penderecki just to name a few associated with those styles. 

As to specific composers and pieces to recommend I can only really speak of what I enjoy myself. 

Boulez: Répons (although it's more on the 'old' side of contemporary)
Matthias Pintscher: Sonic Eclipse
Ferneyhough: Terrain
Brett Dean: Violin concertos, 'The Lost Art of Letter Writing' and 'Electric Preludes'
Adès: Living Toys, Violin Concerto 'Concentric Paths'
Elliott Carter: Asko Concerto, Cello Concerto
Ligeti: Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedüvel


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

KenOC said:


> For the OP: You may want to check these recommendations out.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/R270A7LZ80KMZO/ref=cm_srch_res_rpsy_alt_3


How is your wife finding Zumba?


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## Guest (Jun 10, 2015)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Spectralism, New Complexity and Neo-Romanticism seem to be all the rage these days. Grisey, Ferneyhough and Penderecki just to name a few associated with those styles.
> 
> As to specific composers and pieces to recommend I can only really speak of what I enjoy myself.
> 
> ...


I have not yet heard the "Electric Preludes" or "Living Toys" but otherwise, everything named here is fantastic


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Try Dobrinka Tabakova's cello concerto on the String Paths disk, it's a soft entry.

Like others mentioned, It's hard to know what you are looking for without any context: Genre? Mood? Tolerance for new things? 

Piano I like Rzewski, Ligeti, Flynn
Symphonic I like Norgard, Hovhaness - well, I like their piano music, also 

David Lang's chamber piece Child.

Donnacha Dennehy's song cycle That the Night Come or Gra Agus Bas.

I think that Grisey's Les Espaces Acoustiques is one of the greatest things, well, ever.

Hmmmm...

I've been enjoying Pateras (Mutant Theatre Act), Xenakis (Pleiades, Persepolis), and Stockhausen (Oktophonie) lately.

And Morton Feldman - Coptic Light, Triadic Memories, Rothko Chapel, Crooked Symmetry

I'm rambling now.

Good luck.


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## Guest (Jun 11, 2015)

Lucifer Saudade said:


> But aren't most of these modern composers? Contemporary is the last 40 years or so (or at least the last 70 max).


By the way, if this is of any concern, you could always focus on composers born after 1950 or so. I have an ongoing list (that needs a few updates) of composers I like that were born 1901 or later. So try page 2 and 3 

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/jcpcc14/great_composers_born_after_1900/2/


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## Ilarion (May 22, 2015)

And then there is "Song of Ascension" by Hilarion Alfeev(b.1966)


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## Lucifer Saudade (May 19, 2015)

nathanb said:


> By the way, if this is of any concern, you could always focus on composers born after 1950 or so. I have an ongoing list (that needs a few updates) of composers I like that were born 1901 or later. So try page 2 and 3
> 
> https://rateyourmusic.com/list/jcpcc14/great_composers_born_after_1900/2/


That's a great list, Nathan.

Not sure why people want me to post pieces I already like -

a) That's completely immaterial since prior to hearing them, I didn't know if I would like them or not. There's no telling what I might I like next. 
b) My post wasn't about myself. It was about what YOU would recommend to a contemporary newb on the fly. I specifically told you you can make your own judgments. Even if I don't like the piece you recommend, someone else might. And I'll be exposed to a new composer. That's good enough for me.

Still, here are some pieces people have been posting on TC that I liked:


























Does that help?

Just follow the OP instructions, it really isn't that hard. I hope, at least.

Thanks for those who answered


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

^^^^^

It does help to know what a person already likes. It appears that you have very diverse tastes.

You have already received some great suggestions.

I am one of the few band junkies who participates in this forum. Band music is really not that big in this forum. For example there is one forum on contemporary music: http://www.talkclassical.com/37569-tc-top-recommended-post.html (Note: You should check it out because there some great suggestions there.)

Until recently only one band work has been nominated: Ellerby: _Paris Sketches_

Check out the "Latest Purchases" thread. I have submitted many entries on contemporary music including some excellent concert band works.

Some of the current band composers that have composed some excellent band works:

Frank Ticheli
Donald Grantham
David Maslanka
David Gillingham
Mark Camphouse

If you want to try a more atonal composer I would recommend Karel Husa. His _Prague 1968_ is a powerful dramatic work.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Lucifer Saudade said:


> Not sure why people want me to post pieces I already like -
> 
> a) That's completely immaterial since prior to hearing them, I didn't know if I would like them or not. There's no telling what I might I like next.


I heartily approve of this attitude!
Though it can be useful to know a person's prior likes when estimating whether they'd like something else, it can certainly also be a hindrance and ignores the possibility of eclectic tastes.
I've seen often enough where someone asks for recommendations based on liking some piece that I also like, and a lot of the suggestions are things I have no interest in. So I assume it could well be the same for anyone else. Random choices may ultimately be as useful.


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## thwolfe (Jun 13, 2015)

What about something by John Adams, such as the opera Nixon in China? It's listenable, in English, and has a recognizable storyline!


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

John Adams - The Chairman Dances
Rzewski - El Pueblo Unido


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