# Where to get started with contemporary classical music?



## artist202 (Jul 14, 2017)

For 20th century classical music, I used The Rest is Noise and a few other books as a guide for the vast catalogue of music. I now want to explore contemporary modern music after hearing Derek Bermel and thinking it was cool, but don't know where to start. I know there are a lot of artists to explore, so many in fact that it seems kind of overwhelming (I listened to a contemporary radio station to get an idea). What would you folks recommend? Really just stuff from the 70s onward. 
Thank you!


----------



## Guest (Aug 8, 2018)

I'd probably start with checking out some of the KAIROS and NEOS catalogues. There are many great things on there, particularly NEOS's comprehensive overview of the Donaueschinger Musiktage since 2006.

I can give you names of a few favourite composers: Lachenmann, Olga Neuwirth, Ondrej Adamek, Liza Lim, Chaya Czernowin, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Rebecca Saunders, Ferneyhough (okay I'll stop there)


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

We just finished a game about favourite compositions by living composers - this would not be a bad place to start. Here's the top 10:

01 Furrer - Piano Concerto
02 Adams - The Dharma at Big Sur
03 Sallinen - Symphony no. 4, op. 49

04 Reich - Different Trains
05 Lachenmann - Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern
06 Pelēcis - Nevertheless
07 Murail - Désintégrations
07 Reich - Music for 18 Musicians
09 Murail – Gondwana
10 Kurtag - Kafka Fragments
10 Vasks - Cello Concerto


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Derek Bermel´s music is quite varied, often rather tuneful 



 or increasingly fragmented 




15 attractive works by a few significant composers, from the relatively simple to the very advanced. 
By far the most, but not all, are post-1970:

- Nikolai *Kapustin*: Duo for Cello & Saxophone 



- Aarvo *Pärt*: Tabula Rasa Concerto for Violin, Piano & Orchestra 



- George *Crumb*: Sonata for Solo Cello 



- Joonas* Kokkonen*: Durch ein Spigel, for harpsichord & strings 



- Kaija* Saariaho*: Flute Concerto L´Aile du Songe 



 + 



- Sofia *Gubailduina*: Piano Sonata 



- Tristan *Keuris*: Double Concerto for 2 Cellos and Orchestra 



- Thomas *Ades*: In Seven Days for piano & orchestra 



- Witold *Lutoslawski:* Symphony no.4 



- Olivier* Messiaen*: Des Canyons Aux Etoiles for piano & orchestra 



- Per *Nørgård*: Percussion Concerto, For a Change, with orchestra 



- Gyorgy *Ligeti*: Chamber Concerto 



- Tristan* Murail*: L´Esprit des Dunes for orchestra 



- Per *Nørgård* Piano Concerto, In Due Tempi 



- Lucia *Dlugoszewski*: Fire Fragile Flight for orchestra


----------



## fliege (Nov 7, 2017)

I don't know much about modern stuff, but I find myself often listening to the album "String Paths" by Tabakova and Philip Glass' second violin concerto. Both are very recent.


----------



## Guest (Aug 9, 2018)

I would advise you to PM knowledgeable sources. The majority of the biggest contemporary music fans on this forum tend to go into long periods of public inactivity due to the forum's long history of open hostility to this sort of music. I will not be making any more public recommendations at this time.


----------



## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

Personally, I tend to find myself most drawn to the music of the contemporary Scandinavian and Estonian (& Latvian) composers. Among the older generation, I've most liked the music of Joonas Kokkonen, Vagn Holmboe, and Allan Petersson (now deceased, but all working after 1970), and especially their symphonies. Among present day Scandinavian composers, I've been most impressed by the music of Magnus Lindberg, Per Nørgård, Einojuhani Rautavaara (recently deceased), Bent Sørensen, Poul Ruders, Hans Abrahamsen, Kaija Saariaho, Anders Hillborg, Aulis Sallinen, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Ib Norhølm, Jaakko Kuusisto, Leif Segerstam, and Paavo Heininen. Among Estonian composers, the music of Arvo Pärt, Edward Tubin (1905-1982), Veljo Tormis (deceased in 2017), and Erkki-Sven Tüür interests me; as well as Peteris Vasks, among contemporary Latvian composers (there are many other Latvian composers, but I don't know their music). A good selection of music by these composers (& by those mentioned below) can be heard for free on You Tube.

I was also a big fan of the music of the late British composer Oliver Knussen, who sadly passed away about a month ago.

Among other UK composers, I've found the music of Robin Holloway, Thomas Ades, George Benjamin, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Colin Matthews, Alexander Goehr, Sir Michael Tippett (deceased), Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (deceased), Edmund Rubbra (deceased), Nicholas Maw, Malcolm Arnold (deceased), John McCabe (deceased), Geoffrey Burgon (deceased), Robert Simpson (deceased), and James McMillan to be worthwhile.

As for contemporary composers of a more religious bent, I've liked what I've heard from Ivan Moody, John Tavener (deceased), Tarik O'Regan, Gavin Bryars, Arvo Part, John Rutter, James McMillan, and Gabriel Jackson.

Among American composers, the music of Joseph Schwanter, Augusta Read Thomas, Stephen Paulus (deceased), Alan Stout (recently deceased), John Harbison (esp. his string quartets), Martin Boykan, Vincent Persichetti (deceased), Peter Child, Lou Harrison, William Bolcom, Harold Shapero, Charles Wuorinen, John Corigliano, Phillip Glass (esp. his Violin Concerto No. 1, played by Gidon Kremer, & opera Akhnaten & film music, Koyaanisqatsi), Ned Rorem, Peter Lieberson (deceased), Tobias Picker, Steven Stucky (deceased), John Adams, and Ben Johnston (his string quartet cycle) has interested me.

The Lydian Quartet offers an annual competition to American composers, and its worth keeping up with the prize winners, since the winning quartets are mostly made available on Lydian recordings (except for Alan Stout's string quartets, frustratingly, though they've been recorded). The latest winner for 2017 is Saad Haddad of California:

http://www.lydianquartet.com/recordings/
http://www.lydianquartet.com/2017-prizewinner/

Among contemporary German composers, the music of Hans Werner Henze, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Wolfgang Rihm should be heard.

Among contemporary Italian composers, the music of Luigi Nono, Luciano Berio, and Giacinto Scelsi should be heard.

Among contemporary Spanish composers, I enjoy the piano music of Federico Mompou (1893-1987), and especially his Musica Callada and Impresiones Intimas.

Among contemporary Dutch composers, the music of Louis Andriessen and Karel Goeyvaerts may be of interest.

In addition, I'd recommend that you explore the music of Witold Lutoslawski, Alfred Schnittke, Elliott Carter, William Schuman, Oliver Messiaen, George Rochberg, Roger Sessions, Krzysztof Penderecki, Fartein Valen, Henri Dutilleux, Valentin Silvestrov, Edgar Varése, György Ligeti, John Cage, Sofia Gubaidulina, Pierre Boulez, Walter Piston, Alan Hovhaness, Andrzej Panufnik, Howard Hanson, Samuel Barber, and Morton Feldman. (And there are many more...)

Apart from the already mentioned NEOS label, I keep up with the regular offerings of contemporary music from the AEON label:

https://outhere-music.com/en/labels/aeon

The British NMC label is also excellent and worth supporting, if possible. Here's a link to find out about & sample their new releases:

https://www.nmcrec.co.uk/
https://www.nmcrec.co.uk/support-us

Hope that helps.


----------



## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Classical Music Discussion Polls*



nathanb said:


> I would advise you to PM knowledgeable sources. The majority of the biggest contemporary music fans on this forum tend to go into long periods of public inactivity due to the forum's long history of open hostility to this sort of music. I will not be making any more public recommendations at this time.


In spite of problems in the past (there was a lot of hostility in the old Amazon forum as well), the situation has improved over the past few months.

Check out the "Classical Music Discussion Polls" sub-forum. There are many contests there dedicated to contemporary music. Many of them introduced me to new composers I was not familiar with.

mmsbls has started some good threads. Check out:

https://www.talkclassical.com/53126-exploring-contemporary-composers.html?highlight=

https://www.talkclassical.com/53079-discussion-exploring-contemporary-composers.html?highlight=


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

If contemporary means quite recent (since the 1970s is what the OP asks for) you still get too much variety in approaches and styles to make helpful recommendations. There are many composers who work in more or less traditional ways - most of the Scandinavians, British composers like McMillan and Thomas Ades - and there are the composers who followed on from the minimalist pioneers (Adams, Glass etc.) and the rather different "minimalism" of some ex-soviet countries (Part etc). And then there are composers who follow more avant garde practices, who seek to do something that sounds very new and different. This last group is the one that is often derided on this forum. I suppose contemporary music is all of these. So, where to start? I guess a lot depends on what you like in the period immediately before the contemporary. No music comes out of nowhere.


----------

