# Who were the 'best' composers during the late 1970s?



## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

While the 1960s is my favorite decade of music composition (and I love the 1950s, too), I find that the highest concentration of my favorite works hails from the late 1970s.
Perhaps this is partially due to the album recordings available. Whichever the reasons, it intrigues me that such fine quality works succeeded not long after the deaths of Stravinsky (1971), Shostakovich ('75) & Britten ('76) (the composers who are typically associated with the 'best' of the 20th century).

Considering the 3 years I've listed below and the subsets from my own music collection, which composers are the 'best' during the post-Shostakovich late 20th century? 
[my Top 5 includes Ohana, Nordheim, Takemitsu, Prodromidès & Erik Bergman]

*1977*
_Trilogy_ by Don Banks
Erik Bergman's _Dreams_
_A Symphony of Three Orchestras_ by Elliott Carter
Morton Feldman's _Neither_
Iain Hamilton's _Hyperion_
Paavo Heininen's _Symphony No.3_
_The Edge of the Olde One_ by Sidney Hodkinson
Maurice Ohana's _Messe_
_Le livre des Katuns_ by Jean Prodromidès
Einojuhani Rautavaara's _Annunciations_ + _Violin Concerto_
Aulis Sallinen's _Cello Concerto_
Robert Simpson's _Symphony No.6_ + _Symphony No.7_
_A Flock Decends into the Pentagonal Garden_ by Toru Takemitsu
_The Ice Break_ by Michael Tippett
Pierre Wissmer's _Symphony No.6_
_Jonchaies_ by Iannis Xenakis
Isang Yun's _Concerto pour flute et petit orchestre_

*1978*
Malcolm Arnold's _Symphony No.8_
_Scenes for cello, harp & orchestra_ by Tadeusz Baird
_Piano Concerto_ by Phillippe Boesmans
Marius Constant's _Concertante for Saxophone and Orchestra_
Jacob Druckman's _Viola Concerto_
_Timbres, Espace, Mouvement_ by Henri Dutilleux
Morton Feldman's _Flute and Orchestra_ + _Why Patterns?_
_Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra_ by Romualds Kalsons
_Treize couleurs du soleil couchant_ by Tristan Murail
Goffredo Petrassi's _Grand Septuor_
_Angels and Visitations_ by Rautavaara
_Symphony No.9_ by Roger Sessions
Josef Tal's _Symphony No.3_
Isang Yun's _Octuor_

*1979*
_Birds in the Morning_ + _Silence and Eruptions_ by Erik Bergman
Henry Brant's _Orbits_
Hugues Dufourt's _Saturne_
Einar Englund's _Sonata for Violin and Piano_
Cristóbal Halffter's _Concerto No.1 for Violin and Orchestra_
Hans Werner Henze's _Barcarola_
Meyer Kupferman's _Sonata Occulta_
Patrick Marcland's _Verset_
_The Tempest_ ballet by Arne Nordheim
Maurice Ohana's _Livre des Prodiges_
Miklós Rózsa's _Viola Concerto_
_The Ten Commandments_ by Alexandre Tansman
Thorkell Sigurbjornsson's _Euridice_
_Movements_ by Klaas de Vries
_Palimpsest_ by Xenakis


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

It looks like you left out many big names! Schnittke, Denisov, Lutoslawski and Penderecki for starters


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Purely based on 1977-1979, a few that come to mind:

Gubaidulina (De Profundis, Introitus, In Croce)
Rautavaara (Annunciations, Violin concerto)
Sallinen (Symphony 4, The redline, Cello concerto)
Takemitsu (A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden, Waterways)
Dutilleux (Timbres, espace, mouvement; Ainsi la Nuit)
Weinberg (Symphonies 14+15, String quartets 13-15)


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I am struck by how different the "favourite works" listed in the OP are from each other. What do they have in common aside from a date?


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Enthusiast said:


> I am struck by how different the "favourite works" listed in the OP are from each other. What do they have in common aside from a date?


I think that "the date" is the point.

I lot of people have diverse tastes, and I expect that if you listed your "favorite" Pop songs from 1977-1979 you'd discover that the range of styles is broad.


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

1977

Coro by Berio
Concerto Grosso no. 1 by Schnittke
Jonchaies + Kottos by Xenakis
Neither by Feldman
Violin Concerto by Rautavaara
Shiraz + Pulaw Dewata + Journal by Vivier
Quintetto 2 by Sciarrino
Territoires de l'oubli by Murail
Les Espaces Acoustiques IV by Grisey

1978

Flute and Orchestra by Feldman
Hommage à Mihaly Andras by Kurtág
Quartets I-VIII by Cage
Piano Trio by Tailleferre
Paramirabo by Vivier
Piano Sonata by Benjamin
Variationen by Reimann
Timbres, espaces, mouvements by Dutilleux
Klavierstück VI by Rihm
Pleiades + La legende d'Eer by Xenakis
Le Grand Macabre + Hungarian Rock by Ligeti

1979

Where the Wild Things Are by Knussen
Vox Humana? by Kagel
Cello Sonata by Ginastera
Neue Alexanderlieder + La musique creuse le ciel by Rihm
Con Luigi Dallapiccola by Nono
Palimpsest by Xenakis
String Quartet 12 by Weinberg


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## Highwayman (Jul 16, 2018)

I`m not sure who were the best composers of this era but I think particularly Takemitsu and Xenakis were in-form back then. 

Here are some favourite works that have not been mentioned by other posters yet:

Arnold - Flute Sonata
Berkeley - Symphony no. 4
Carter - Syringa
Denisov - Sonata for Flute and Guitar 
Escher - Clarinet Trio
Ferneyhough - Time and Motion Study I 
Grisey - Tempus ex machina 
Henze - L'autunno
Murail - Les courants de l'espace + Tellur
Nørgård - Seadrift
Penderecki - Paradise Lost
Pettersson - Symphonies nos. 15+16
Rochberg - String Quartets 4-6
Saygun - Viola Concerto
Sköld - Horn Concerto
Xenakis - Ikhoor


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Pärt is surely an obvious choice - Summa, Fratres, Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, Spiegel im Spiegel, Tabula Rasa all composed in 1977-78.

Some others not mentioned:
1977: Adams - China Gates; Phrygian Gates
1979: Glass - Satyagraha; Mad Rush
And are we allowed mention Sondheim's Sweeney Todd?


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Nereffid said:


> And are we allowed mention Sondheim's Sweeney Todd?


That's a moderator decision. :lol:


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## VoiceFromTheEther (Aug 6, 2021)

Still Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Bulldog said:


> That's a moderator decision. :lol:


And it should have been written in red


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

VoiceFromTheEther said:


> Still Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven


Maybe in some 4th dimensional universe of Ether they were active in the 1970s


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> It looks like you left out many big names! Schnittke, Denisov, Lutoslawski and Penderecki for starters


Yeah, my music collection tends to pass by some 'big' names in order to focus upon the small(er) fries.
But I do have the 1992 DG album on Lutoslawski containing his 1979 _Novelette_; I didn't list this above because I don't remember what it sounds like. Thus far, it made no impression in my mind.

I like my Penderecki young - between 1959 & 1962.  I don't even have any late-'70s Penderecki on disc.

I've never gotten into Denisov, honestly, and have no more than a handful of his works via compilation albums.

So far, I haven't met anything by Schnittke that I like [only 2 albums of Schnittke reside in my collection and both of these are disliked]

Would've thought that big(ger) names such as Ligeti or Boulez would sooner get mentioned than Denisov ...


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Art Rock said:


> Purely based on 1977-1979, a few that come to mind:
> 
> Gubaidulina (De Profundis, Introitus, In Croce)
> Rautavaara (Annunciations, Violin concerto)
> ...


Yes, I agree with you on Takemitsu, Rautavaara + Dutilleux. I think 1977 was a banner year for Rautavaara with those 2 superb works. Dutilleux almost went into my Top 5 - his "Timbres", etc. is indeed my favorite work of his.

"The Red Line" opera on Finlandia Records is but one of the 4 Sallinen operas I have on discs - none of which are personal faves, though.

The 1978 "Empire of Passion" album is another Takemitsu fave - I think it is his best soundtrack with respect to listening experience.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Enthusiast said:


> I am struck by how different the "favourite works" listed in the OP are from each other. What do they have in common aside from a date?


They do have more in common than the time period. Each of the works I cited is from an album - and each album was a blind buy. During the 1990s & 2000s, I'd go into Tower Records on Saturdays and purchase 4 or 5 albums per store visit - none of whose contents I was familiar with. The only way (then) I could hear such was by buying blind because this is music that would NOT be broadcast or performed in Philadelphia. I would read the reverse sides of the discs to see if such intrigued me enough to wish to explore further. The bulk of my acquisions occurred during a 15-year period between 1993 and 2007.

Some of this music has been with me almost 30 years - some less. But the gestation period for most of it has been over a dozens years.
I didn't like the music of Xenakis when I first heard something by him in 1994 as a 27-year-old. Still, I would give 2nd chances.
When the Timpani label began their 4-volume survey on orchestral Xenakis conducted by Tamayo with Luxembourg, I commenced revisitation with Xenakis in 2001 @ age 34 and digested - slowly - until I 'got' what Xenakis did.

Sometimes it really takes _years_ to learn to like something. Other times, appreciation manifests instantly upon a first hearing.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Nereffid said:


> Pärt is surely an obvious choice - Summa, Fratres, Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, Spiegel im Spiegel, Tabula Rasa all composed in 1977-78.
> 
> Some others not mentioned:
> 1977: Adams - China Gates; Phrygian Gates
> ...


Sure, we can also mention soundtracks, too. I don't think, though, you should bring up Philip Glass when the Highwayman is logged in. :lol:


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Zappa composed many brilliant pieces in the mid to late 70s.

Mo' n Herb's Vacation
Pedro's Dowry
The Black Page
Bogus Pomp
Greggery Peccary

And more pieces followed in the early 80s recorded by the LSO, and Ensemble intercontemporain. Some here and in the past have expressed disdain or indifference due to the fact that he also played rock music but Pierre Boulez, and Kent Nagano took him seriously. And even Zubin Mehta when he was in L.A.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

I love the 70's for classical music. 

From the 1950's up to the present is the period where most of my favorite music resides.

These are some significant pieces for me:

Charles Wuorinen - The Winds (1977)
Charles Wuorinen - Two-part Symphony (1977/1978)
Charles Wuorinen - Hyperion for 12 Instruments (1976)
Joseph Schwantner - Aftertones of Infinity (1978) Pulitzer prize winner 
Joseph Schwantner - ..and the mountains rising nowhere (1977)
Elliott Carter - A Symphony of Three Orchestras (1976)
Peter Maxwell Davies - Symphony No 1 (1976)
Peter Maxwell Davies - A Mirror of Whitening Light, for chamber orchestra (1976/1977)
Louis Andriessen – Hoketus, for two groups of 6 players each
Jacob Druckman – Viola Concerto (1978)
Henri Dutilleux – Timbres, espace, mouvement (1978)
Milton Babbitt - Paraphrases, for ten instruments (1979)
Vaga Holmboe - Violin Concerto No 2 (1979)


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

Not mentioned so far,

1. Joonas Kokkonen:

--"...durch einem Spiegel" (1977): 



--String Quartet No. 3 (1976): The 3rd movement Adagio is remarkable:












--Sonata for Cello & Piano (1975-76): 



--Requiem (1979-81): 








--His opera, The Last Temptations (1975)

2. Vagn Holmboe,

--String Quartet No. 13 (1975): 



--String Quartet No. 15 (1978): 



--Flute Concerto No. 1 (1976): Like many of Holmboe's concertos, his Flute Concerto No. 1 is an underrated work, IMO: 












--Brass Quintet No. 2 (1978), Op. 136: 



--Already mentioned: Violin Concerto No. 2 (1978-79): 




3. Oliver Knussen,

--Ophelia Dances, Book 1, Op. 13 (1975), for flute, cor anglais, clarinet, horn, piano, celesta, & string trio: 



--Autumnal, Op. 14, for violin and piano (1976-77): 



--Sonya's Lullaby, Op. 16 (1978-79), for piano solo: 



--Symphony No. 3, Op. 18 (1979): 



--Coursing, Op. 17 (1979): 



--Where the Wild Things are, Op. 20 (1979-83): 



--Océan de Terre, Op. 10 (1976): 




4. A young Magnus Lindberg,

--Quintetto dell'estate for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (1979): 




5. Olivier Messiaen,

--His opera in 3 acts: Saint-François d'Assise (1975-83): 




6. Einojuhani Rautavaara,

--Already mentioned: Violin Concerto (1977)--the more I've listened to Rautavaara's Violin Concerto over the years, the more & more I've admired this music: 



--Angels and Visitations (1978): 



--String Quartet No. 4 (1975)--a very rarely played & recorded quartet (there have only been two recordings to date, as far as I know):












--Canticum Mariae Virginis, for chorus a cappella (1978): 



--Summer Night, or Sommarnatten, choral song (1975): 



--Magnificat, for mixed choir (1979):


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

Pärt, Penderecki and Ligeti.


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

To add some more composers & 70s works, in addition to those I mentioned in my previous post (a few of these have already been mentioned by others, but without links to recordings),

1. Arvo Pärt,

--Summa, for chorus (1977)--see link below.
--Fratres, for chamber ensemble (1976, etc.)--see link below.
--Arbos, for eight brass instruments & percussion (1977, etc.): 



--Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten for string orchestra and bell (1977)--see link below.
--Tabula Rasa, double concerto for two violins, string orchestra, & prepared piano (1977)--see link below.
--Für Alina, for piano (1976): 




A link to the above works: 




2. Witold Lutoslawski,

--Double Concerto for oboe, harp, & chamber orchestra (1980, but Lutoslawski worked on it for long time during the 1970s): 



--Symphony No. 3 (1983, but again Lutoslawski worked on his 3rd Symphony throughout the 1970s): 




3. Allan Pettersson,

--Violin Concerto No. 2 (1978)--This starkly beautiful violin concerto is a 20th century masterpiece, in my view, and would make my list of the top 15 violin concertos of the last century: the legendary violinist Ida Haendel premiered the work & gives a powerful, unforgettable performance (btw, Pettersson dedicated the concerto to her): 



. However, Isabelle van Keulen's digital recording on CPO is likewise remarkable, & van Keulen plays a "revised version" of the score--as Pettersson revised the concerto after its January, 1980 premiere, shortly before his death in June, 1980. I find van Keulen's performance to be more lyrical & sensitive than Haendel's:





https://www.amazon.com/Pettersson-Violin-Concerto-Revised-Version/dp/B07NXW8YYL.

Ulf Wallin has recently recorded it, too, but I've yet to hear his recording.

--Viola Concerto (1979-80): 



--Symphony No. 9 (1970): 



--Symphony No. 10 (1971-72): 



--Symphony No. 11 (1971-73): 



--Symphony No. 14 (1976): 



--Symphony No. 15 (1978): 




4. Einar Englund,

--Symphony No. 3 "Barbarossa" (1971):



--Symphony No. 4, "Nostalgic", for strings & percussion (1976): 



--Symphony No. 5, Sinfonia Fennica (1977): 



--Sonata for Violin & Piano (1979): 



--Piano Sonata No. 1 (1978): 




5. Per Nørgård,

--Symphony No. 2 (1970): 



--Symphony No. 3 (1975): 



--Gilgamesh (1972): 



--Siddharta (1979): 




6. Ib Nørholm,

--Symphony No. 3 (1973): 



--Symphony No. 4 (1978-79): https://www.amazon.com/Ib-Nørholm-Symphony-Op-76/dp/B000027T9O
--Symphony No. 5 (1981): 



--Concerto for violin & orchestra (1974): 




7. Robin Holloway,

--Sea-Surface Full of Clouds (1974-75)--based on a poem by Wallace Stevens, this is a favorite contemporary work of mine:
https://www.muziekweb.nl/Link/DBX2725/Sea-surface-full-of-clouds-op-28
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN 9228
--Clarissa, Opera in two acts (1976): A sequence from the opera: 



--Concerto for Orchestra No. 2, Op. 44 (1978-79): https://www.amazon.com/Robin-Holloway-Concerto-No-Op/dp/B0135OUQ2Y
--Horn Concerto, Op. 44 (1979-80): 



--Serenade, Op. 41, for octet: 
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA66930
I prefer the Nash Ensemble's recording of the Serenade to the following radio broadcast (but it isn't on YT): 




8. Vincent Persichetti:

--Symphony No. 9 "Janiculum" (1970)--This is an extraordinary, eerie work--arguably a minor masterpiece, & the orchestration is brilliantly done: 



--String Quartet No. 4 "Parable X" (1972): 




Lastly, I'd add that any 1970s music (& otherwise) that the conductor/composer Oliver Knussen recorded is worth hearing. As Olly didn't waste his time with music that he didn't want to conduct...

P.S. Two works that I like by Poul Ruders, from 1979 & 1981:

--Violin Concerto No. 1: 



--String Quartet No. 2: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8015904--abrahamsen-ruders-string-quartets


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

A couple more composers with some geat works in the late '70s

Salvatore Sciarrino
Krzysztof Meyer


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

There was a whole generation of very fine and prolific American composers that were prominent in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s that were still alive in the late 1970s. This would include the likes of Aaron Copland, Virigil Thomson, Randall Thompson, William Schuman, Leonard Bernstein, Nicholas Flagello, Paul Creston, Peter Mennin, George Rochberg, Gunther Schuller, Leonard Bernstein, David Diamond, Harold Shapiro, Ulysses Kay, Roger Sessions, Elliott Carter, Leo Ornstien, John Cage, Lou Harrison, Alan Hovhaness, George Frederick McKay, Samuel Barber, Gian-Carlo Menotti, and Ned Rorem. Most of them were still composing into their 70s, 80s, and in the case of Elliott Carter, past age 100! So some or even many of them must have been still been active in the late 1970s; though I know that the "Grand Old Man of American Music", Aaron Copland, had "run out of ideas" by then, and had long since retired from composing. At age 97, Ned Rorem is the only one I can think of who is still among us, so that would make Rorem the last link to that generation of American composers. 

A younger generation of very fine American composers that includes Joseph Schwantner, Adolphus Hailstork, John Corigliano Jr., and Ellen Taaffe Zwillich (all alive and well) were probably also composing interesting things in the late 1970s.


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

George Crumb is still alive from that 60s/70s composition era, though I'm not sure how prolific he's been recently.


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

fbjim said:


> George Crumb is still alive from that 60s/70s composition era, though I'm not sure how prolific he's been recently.


...and Frederic Rzewski who just left us in June of this year at the age of 83 composed his wonderful, _People United_, in the 1975.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Not mentioned, I think:

- Rochberg, Piano Quintet (1975)
- Rochberg, Violin Concerto (1975)
- Killmayer, Nocturnes, An John Field (1975)
- Erik Norby, The Rainbow Snake (1975)

- Gorecki, 3rd Symphony (1976)
- Artyomov, Romantic Capriccio (1976)

- Artyomov, Symphony of Elegies (1977)
- Glonti, Symphonic Meditations for Cello & Orchestra (1977)
(-Dlugoszewski, Amor New Tilting Night (1978); probably very good, but I think unrecorded)
- Lubos Fiser, 6th Piano Sonata, Fras (1978)
- Mansurian, 2nd Cello concerto (1978)
- Mansurian, Double Concerto (1978)

- Gorecki, Beatus Vir (1979)
- Rochberg, Quartet no.7 (1979)
- Lubos Fiser, Ave Imperator (1979)
- Mansurian, Tovem (1979)
- Sandström, Requiem (1979)


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

One composer who I thought really came into his own in the late 70s was Alfred Schnittke:

A few stunning examples:

- _Requiem_ (1974-75)
- _Concerto Grosso No. 1_ (1977)
- _Concerto for Piano and Strings_ (1979)
- _Piano Quintet_ (1972-76)
- _Stille Nacht_ (1978)
- Cello Sonata No. 1 (1978)


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

joen_cph said:


> Not mentioned, I think:
> 
> - Rochberg, Piano Quintet (1975)
> - Rochberg, Violin Concerto (1975)
> ...


Rochberg's _Violin Concerto_ is a favorite of mine; maybe the greatest violin concerto ever composed after World War II and by an American. It has all the length and breadth of a Mahler symphony, all the athleticism of Prokofiev's _Violin Concerto #1_, and all the pathos of Berg's _Violin Concerto_ (Berg composed his _VC_ for his departed daughter and Rochberg composed his for a fallen son). Isaac Stern made the premier recording which was an abridged version not to the composer's satisfaction. A newer recording was made in the early 2000s on NAXOS featuring Peter Shappard Skaervard on violin with the conductor, Christopher Lyndon-Gee. Lyndon-Gee collaborated with Rochberg on the restoration. It's no reflection on Isaac Stern's full and warm tone, but the Skaervard recording is A+.

Gorecki's _Symphony #3 "Sorrowful Songs"_ is another excellent work where the composer captures the horror of war as well as the power of the mother-child bond.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

The late 70's were indeed a fertile period for "new" music. I looked through the offerings already posted and visited my Discogs database to cull out a list of favorite works of the era that have taken repeated spins on my stereo system. The following, several of them already cited, head the list:

Helmut Lachenmann - Schwankungen am Rand, for Sheet Metal and Strings (1974-75)
Rochberg - Violin Concerto (1975)
Wolfgang Rihm - Lichtzwang - Musik Für Violine Und Orchester (1975/76)
Peter Maxwell Davies - Symphony No 1 (1976)
Gorecki - 3rd Symphony (1976)
Nancy Van de Vate - Music for Viola, Percussion and Piano (1976)
Jean Francaix - Quintet For Clarinet And String Quartet (1977)
Arvo Pärt - Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten for string orchestra and bell (1977)
Aaron Rabushka - Concerto For Clarinet, Bass Clarinet And Chamber Orchestra, Op. 20 (1977)
Horatiu Radulescu - Thirteen Dreams Ago, Op. 26 For 11 Strings And Two Tapes (1977)
Robert Simpson - Symphonies Nos. 6 & 7 (1977)
Xenakis - Jonchaies (1977)
Henri Dutilleux - Timbres, espace, mouvement (1978)
Michael Finnissy - Piano Concerto No. 3 (1978)
Sergey Slonimsky - Symphony No.2 (1978)
Oliver Knussen - Symphony No. 3, Op. 18 (1979)

Perhaps my favorite (and most oft listened to) work on that list remains the Gorecki Third, of which I have acquired over a dozen versions. But I wouldn't want to be without any of the others, each of which has something to offer, no matter how much it might differ from other works on the list.

I suggest that this same era, the late 70's, has given us some of the greatest music in the jazz and pop/rock genres as well. I took the liberty to list a few of my favorites from both genres. Classic stuff, here, all the way.

Jazz

Joe Henderson - Canyon Lady (1975)
Nathan Davis - If (1976)
Al Jarreau - Look to the Rainbow (1977)
Roscoe Mitchell - Nonaah (1977)
Paul Winter - Earthdance (1977)
Weather Report - Heavy Weather (1977)
Bob James - Touchdown (1978)
Joe Pass & Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen - Chops (1979)

I'm hard-pressed to select a favorite jazz recording from the above list. All of these are in heavy rotation in my listening room.

Pop/Rock

Queen - A Night at the Opera (1975)
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
Al Stewart - Year of the Cat (1976)
Chrome - Alien Soundtracks (1978)
Mars - 78 (1978)
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks (featuring Lydia Lunch) - Live 1977-1979

Of course, I could add greatly to all three of these lists, as you could to your own. But suffice it to say that the era of the late 70's was a watershed (or "music-hall") for great music in all genres. I'm thankful to have been there enjoying this music when it was all new. Today, over four decades later, it is still surprisingly fresh and invigorating, which is how all great music ages. Timeless.


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