# A purely technical question



## Lisztfreak (Jan 4, 2007)

Sorry for being ignorant, but I just want to make something clear for me. I'm never sure under what period or style are the following composers 'listed':

* Edward Elgar
* Ralph Vaughan Williams
* Gustav Holst
* Frederick Delius
* Carl Nielsen
* Jean Sibelius

Some will laugh at this stupid question, but I'm really interested in answers.


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## johnnyx (Jan 3, 2007)

Great question. I would call them Late Romantic/Early 20th Century composers. I don't think any of them fit nicely into the "Early, Medieval, Rennaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern" labels most commonly used.


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## Lisztfreak (Jan 4, 2007)

I've just found a paragraph in my encyclopedia. It states that Elgar is an 'English composer of the romantic period'. Hum, debatable.


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## johnnyx (Jan 3, 2007)

Here is a nice little Elgar site.
http://www.geocities.com/hansenk69/elgarpage.html


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## Kurkikohtaus (Oct 22, 2006)

The late 19th century and early 20th starts to show a wide variety of styles, and aside from the Viennese school leading to Serialism and the advent of Minimalism in the 70's, it is difficult to group composers together. Even Stravinsky's "Neo-Classical" style isn't really a "style" per-se, it is a highly individual and personal way of writing that is inherent and unique to Stravinsky.

So I think that's the point. The 20th century is a time of fragmentation of styles and individualism.

That said, V-W, Holst and Delius owe an awful lot to Elgar, and it is not until Britten that England produced a truly original, "non-Elgarian" composer.


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## Lisztfreak (Jan 4, 2007)

Thanks for the link, johnnyx!

Kurkikohtaus, which VW symphony would you recommend for my first listening?


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## Mr Salek (Apr 11, 2006)

I would say Elgar is Romantic, although his music differs from the norm of that period as he was overseas! However, most of the composers you have listed are transitionary.


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## Lark Ascending (Dec 16, 2006)

I have a classical music book which defines them as belonging to the respective "national schools" of their country or region, so Sibelius and Neilsen belong to the Scandinavian national school, and VW, Holst, etc. to the British. The time period given is mid 19th-mid 20th century.


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## Kurkikohtaus (Oct 22, 2006)

From Vaughn-Williams, I recommend the tuneful and gentle *Symphony No. 5*, and *Symphony No. 2* ("A London Symphony") is also very accessible.

I personally don't like "A Sea Symphony", *No. 1*, because of its gargantuan proportions and gargantuan expression, but audiences generally like it because of these things.

Despite the interesting title of "Sinfonia Antarctica", *Symphony No. 7* I find to be deathly boring.


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## Lisztfreak (Jan 4, 2007)

Thank you, Kurki!


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