# Q2 Music's new-music countdown, 2015



## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Another year-end list, another thread...
Each year, WQXR's Q2 Music conducts a listener poll of favourite music. In the past it's been "of the last 100 years" but this year they've narrowed it down to the last 20 years.
http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/q2-musics-2015-new-music-countdown/

Obviously it's just a snapshot of the tastes of a particular group of people, but I think it's an impressive list, with several of my own favourites on it. 
I'm curious what (a) people who listen to a lot of new music and (b) people who say there's no such thing as good new music think of it.

Here's the full list in ascending order:

50. John Adams - Naive and Sentimental Music (1999)
49. Einojuhani Rautavaara - Harp Concerto (2000)
48. Louis Andriessen - La Passione (2002)
47. John Luther Adams - Dark Waves (2007)
46. Jonny Greenwood - 48 Responses To Polymorphia (2012)
45. Osvaldo Golijov - Ayre (2005)
44. Thomas Ades - Polaris (2010)
43. Elliott Carter - Clarinet Concerto (1996)
42. Donnacha Dennehy - That the Night Come (2010)
41. Sarah Kirkland Snider - Unremembered (2011)
40. Hans Abrahamsen - Schnee (2008)
39. Jefferson Friedman - String Quartet No. 2 (1999)
38. Thomas Ades - Concentric Paths (2005)
37. Missy Mazzoli - Vespers for a New Dark Age (2015)
36. Enno Poppe - Keilschrift (2006)
35. Kaija Saariaho - D'om le vrai sens (2010)
34. Ted Hearne - Law of Mosaics (2014)
33. Julia Wolfe - Steel Hammer (2009)
32. Nico Muhly - Two Boys (2011)
31. Magnus Lindberg - Clarinet Concerto (2005)
30. Anna Thorvaldsdottir - Aeriality (2011)
29. Philip Glass - Suite from The Hours (2005)
28. Michael Gordon - Decasia (2002)
27. John Luther Adams - The Wind in High Places (2015)
26. Osvaldo Golijov - La Pasión según San Marcos (2000)
25. Jennifer Higdon - Violin Concerto (2008)
24. Gerard Grisey - Vortex Temporum (1996)
23. Peteris Vasks - String Quartet No. 4 (2003)
22. David Lang - Love Fail (2012)
21. Julia Wolfe - Anthracite Fields (2014)
20. Esa Pekka Salonen - Violin Concerto (2009)
19. Philip Glass - Songs and Poems for Solo Cello (2008)
18. Andrew Norman - The Companion Guide to Rome (2010)
17. Tristan Perich - Surface Image (2014)
16. John Adams - On the Transmigration of Souls (2002)
15. Thomas Ades - Tevot (2010)
14. George Benjamin - Written on Skin (2012)
13. Steve Reich - Double Sextet (2008)
12. Kaija Saariaho - Orion (2002)
11. Ann Southam - Simple Lines of Enquiry (2009)
10. Meredith Monk - Songs of Ascension (2011)
9. Georg Friedrich Haas - In Vain (2000)
8. Thomas Ades - Asyla (1999)
7. John Adams - Dharma at Big Sur (2006)
6. Donnacha Dennehy - Grá agus Bás (2011)
5. David Lang - little match girl passion (2008)
4. Anna Thorvaldsdottir - In the Light of Air (2014)
3. Andrew Norman - Play (2013)
2. John Luther Adams - Become Ocean (2014)
1. Caroline Shaw - Partita for 8 Voices (2012)


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Fine looking list. Lots there that I can explore that I've not heard or even heard of. A small spattering of some of my modern faves. Slightly disappointed not to see Dobrakova, R. Panufnik, or Salonen there. And no 'Limited Approximation' which is my favourite piece from the last few years. 
But like I wrote - exploration opportunites abound. And that's surely what these lists are all about


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## Lunasong (Mar 15, 2011)

I like narrowing the list to music less than 20 years old. It would be a great idea to use this list to explore new music.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

MagneticGhost said:


> Fine looking list. Lots there that I can explore that I've not heard or even heard of. A small spattering of some of my modern faves. Slightly disappointed not to see Dobrakova, R. Panufnik, or Salonen there. And no 'Limited Approximation' which is my favourite piece from the last few years.
> But like I wrote - exploration opportunites abound. And that's surely what these lists are all about


^ Salonen's Violin Concerto is on the list.

Plenty of works I don't know and some I love (La Passione, Vortex Temporum, in vain, Orion, Dharma at Big Sur).

I don't understand the hype about Become Ocean though.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Chronochromie said:


> ^ Salonen's Violin Concerto is on the list.
> 
> Plenty of works I don't know and some I love (La Passione, Vortex Temporum, in vain, Orion, Dharma at Big Sur).
> 
> I don't understand the hype about Become Ocean though.


Aahh So it is. Too much Prosecco last night


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

Sorry to say I've only heard 5 pieces on that list. I'll have to make more of an effort! Thanks for posting this, Nereffid, it gives me a place to start.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

The piece by John Adams – Naive and Sentimental Music (1999) is quite accessible.


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Interesting list. Surprised but pleased to see Lindberg's Clarinet Concerto on there. I went through TC's Post-1950 Works list, and found 42 works written (at least partially) since 1995.

Of those 42, only 5 were also on this list:

Adès: Concentric Paths (2005) - ranked #6 post-1995 on TC, #38 here
Adams: The Dharma at Big Sur (2003) - #10/#6
Haas: In Vain (2000-2002) - #25/#9
Adams, J.L.: Become Ocean (2013) - #33/#2
Abrahamsen: Schnee (2008) - #42/#40


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

ArtMusic said:


> The piece by John Adams - Naive and Sentimental Music (1999) is quite accessible.


Of course "accessible" is one of those words that kinda doesn't really mean anything, but I'd say that the great majority of the works on the list (I've heard most of them) could easily be described that way.


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## PeterFromLA (Jul 22, 2011)

The absence of Dusapin's Piano Etudes or Seven Solos for Orchestra, Dalbavie's Flute Concerto, Silvestrov's Requiem for Larissa, or any works by Chin or Szymanski, is disappointing. Happy to see Grisey's Vortex, Andriessen's La Passione and the Lindberg and Saariaho Clarinet Concertos on the list. I'm surprised to see Golijov's Passion on the list, not because it's not a good work, I personally enjoy it very much, but because it seems like it's been around for longer than 20 years... it seems a very established piece.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I'm bookmarking this list to aid in my own explorations. There is a lot I haven't heard. 

Thomas Ades seems hugely popular causing me to suspect and rethink my own interest in his music. I'm not one of those, "if it's popular, it's rubbish" types, but popularity does make me suspicious. 

I'm trying to revise my early dismissal of Become Ocean. I think I hear what he's doing with the slow metamorphosis, but I still think ambient artists have been doing this for many decades, the only difference I detect here being that he's getting the same effects from orchestra. So while not dismissing it out of hand, I won't be listening to the whole thing again. Life is short.


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2016)

Not a fan of what the list projects as a whole (Higdon, Mazzoli, and then Adams and Ades being good but far too dominant here).

But they scored major points for going back to '96 for Carter and Grisey, and also for picking up on not only Haas but also Poppe. And who doesn't love Saariaho, Thorvaldsdottir, and the like?


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Nereffid, thanks for the list. As mentioned by others, there are many wonderful works plus a lot to explore. I also programmed Q2 on my wireless speaker.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I love Schnee and am glad to see it made it.

Otherwise, this could just as easily be a random recommendations list of work from the past 20 years. Which is fine. I haven't heard anything by a number of these composers, and I do listen to newer Classical.


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