# Music of the Past 15 Years



## Mephistopheles (Sep 3, 2012)

I'm sure there are a number of threads devoted to contemporary music, but I'm not sure if there are any with a time-frame this narrow. If there are, then let me distinguish mine by saying that I'm making this thread because, when I was recently trying to impersonate Ligeti, I came across an interesting quotation:



> Now there is no taboo; everything is allowed. But one cannot simply go back to tonality, it's not the way. We must find a way of neither going back nor continuing the avant-garde. I am in a prison: one wall is the avant-garde, the other wall is the past, and I want to escape.


This was delivered as part of a lecture in 1993 and struck me particularly because of my own compositional conundrums. I'd like to use this as a basis for exploring music that has been written since 1997 (including compositions by ComposerOfAvantGarde) to see where contemporary (classical) music is now and where it might be heading. Now there's no taboo, we are probably living in a time with stylistic eclecticism like no other, but it would be good if you could just share with us recent works that you admire and, if you can, write some brief descriptions of their style and intent, and/or why you like them.

Personally, while I'm increasingly familiarising myself with the best of the 20th century (Ligeti included), I am not so knowledgeable about music written at the turn of our own century, and I think that's a shame. And while I follow some contemporary music blogs to discover music being written by living composers, I very much feel as though I am only catching glimpses at small sections of modern musical culture without really getting to grips with the broad stylistic and aesthetic _trends_ of our time, and it is that more than anything that I'd like to use this thread to understand.


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## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

"But one cannot simply go back to tonality."
Well he is *WRONG!!!*
Let me introduce this new picture i just made!


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## Mephistopheles (Sep 3, 2012)

jani said:


> "But one cannot simply go back to tonality."
> Well he is *WRONG!!!*


I wouldn't like this thread to become a debate about the relative merits of tonality, extended tonality, atonality, non-tonality and everything in between - let's stick _very much_ to listening to actual music together - but I suspect you're right, and I think the statement is really too broad. Bach is tonal but then so is Stravinsky, so there is a lot to work with in tonality and I don't think you need to avoid it absolutely to be taken seriously.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

From Ligeti you have:

Piano etude "Pour Irina" (1997):






And the rest of the piano etudes of the third book.

The Hamburg Concerto (1998-99, revised 2002), a favorite of mine:






Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedűvel (With Pipes, Drums, Fiddles) (2000), I think this one is his last piece:


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2012)

Mephistopheles said:


> ...to see where contemporary (classical) music is now and where it might be heading.


Where it is now could be articulated, if only there were some kind of agreement on the "it." (If only "contemporary (classical) music" were an "it" and not a "them," and not only a them but a bewildering variety of thems.



Mephistopheles said:


> Now there's no taboo, we are probably living in a time with stylistic eclecticism like no other


Not sure there's a causal relationship between these two. There's been stylistic eclecticism for over a hundred years, at least. Not sure it's any more now than ever before, though there are possibly more styles to choose from. Is there no taboo, by the way?



Mephistopheles said:


> _t would be good if you could just share with us recent works that you admire and, if you can, write some brief descriptions of their style and intent, and/or why you like them._


_I've been doing this for years, to no avail.:lol: Anyway, since I listen mostly to music from the past decade or so, this would be a very time-consuming task for me. For people who don't listen to much music of the past decade, it will be easier, but the results will be questionable. (Do you seriously think an online forum like TC will give you any other kinds of results?)



Mephistopheles said:



[T]he best of the 20th century....

Click to expand...

Wait a minute! How do you know it's the best? I mean, if you haven't listened to everything for yourself, then you're relying on the opinions, collective or otherwise, of others. How do you know if they've got it right or not? Far better to listen to everything, trying to enjoy each thing on its own terms (i.e., not on terms alien to that thing).



Mephistopheles said:



I am not so knowledgeable about music written at the turn of our own century, and I think that's a shame.

Click to expand...

Well, it's certainly something you can rectify. Which is the best way to do that, though? By collecting a bunch of opinions of other listeners or by doing some listening yourself?



Mephistopheles said:



I very much feel as though I am only catching glimpses at small sections of modern musical culture without really getting to grips with the broad stylistic and aesthetic trends of our time

Click to expand...

All of us feel the same. Ask yourself this, however, what would "getting to grips with the broad stylistic and aesthetic trends of our time" accomplish for you? Would you like any particular thing any better than you do now? Would you be able to overcome your own compositional dilemma with it?_


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## Mephistopheles (Sep 3, 2012)

Thank you very much for your contribution to the thread questioning my premises and intents, but as I said specifically in post #3, I would like this thread to be a place where we share listening recommendations. I may be wrong in some of my assumptions, and I may not get out of this thread what I imagine I will get, but I asked quite simply for us to come together to share music from the past 15 years and that is what we shall do because most will not feel it necessary to question this request. While I like a good argument, this is not the time or place to get into one.


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2012)

Yeah yeah yeah, but how many of your colleagues here listen to the music of the past 15 years?

But OK. You asked for it.

One trend has been to disregard the label "classical." In 2005, I mentioned the word "classical" to a composer friend of mine. She said "You'd call what I do classical?" (You'll just have to imagine what incredulity sounds like!) At the time I said "Yes." Now I'm not so sure. Not about her music. I'm sure about that. But about the label. It's been around for about 200 years. Maybe it's outlived its usefulness, which was always questionable (and always questioned, by the way). It started out, explicitly, as exclusive and as snooty--only for the elite. And it got its way, for awhile, until exclusivity and elitism came to be seen as disadvantages, anyway.

So a lot of the people I'd recommend would not call themselves "classical" by any means, though they wouldn't call it jazz or rock or metal or hip hop or any of those labels, either. It's not pop, though many of my composer friends would say that they would like to achieve popularity! If you're cool with that, then OK.

Another trend is away from "pieces." Though, literally, "pieces" is philosophically fine--congruent with recent philosophy, that is, which sees music as continuous (with only our listening being intermittent). So a little chunk of that continuous music could be called "a piece," though no one does that I know of. "Set" is a pretty common term, especially for improvisation, which used to be a common and well-regarded thing in the Baroque era and before. Since then, um, not so much. But it's back and not just in "jazz," either but in the genre-less art musics I can recommend to you. That is, if that's OK.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

some guy said:


> Yeah yeah yeah, but how many of your colleagues here listen to the music of the past 15 years?


Last 15 years? I do. And quite a few large scale pieces for that matter, too that without any ambiguity, would be considered as high level contemporary art music that was composed on sheets, rehearsed with a professional orchestra and then premiered in a concert hall for fee paying audiences no different in principle to Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart, Verdi, Wagner or Strauss. Here are some examples, listed below. That's all I have time for this morning.

Philip Glass, _Kepler_ (2009, premiered 2010). Beat that - last three years!










Tan Dun, _Water Concerto_ (2007). Soloist performs with two large bowls of water, literally, and a symphony orchestra.










Harrison Birtwistle, _The Minotaur_, (2008)










HarpsichordConcerto is a modernist as much as some.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Kaija Saariaho and Unsuk Chin are 2 names worth checking out. And there is a thread on that forbidden forum of a voting game based on music of 2000-2012. I could copy that page over here. I took out the nominations and voting list. Anyone want to alphabetize it?


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Here are the works voted best in that game.

Best of 2000-2012:
1 - Chin: Cello Concerto (2009) 
2 - Dusapin: Seven Solos for Orchestra (1992-2009) 
3 - Carter : Interventions for piano and orchestra (2007) 
4 - Saariaho : L'Amour de Loin (2000)
5 - Chin : Violin Concerto (2001)
6 - Saariaho : Clarinet Concerto "D'Om Le Vrai Sens" (2010)
7 - Gubaidulina: In Tempus Praesens (2007)
8 - Lindberg: Clarinet Concerto (2002)
9 - Nørgård: Symphony No - 7 (2006)
10 - Saariaho : L'Aile du songe, flute concerto (2001)


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Here it is alphabetized!

Adams : Doctor Atomic (2005)
Adams : On the Transmigration of Souls (2002)
Adams : The Dharma at Big Sur (2003)
Adès: Tevot (2007)
Aho : Symphony No. 12 (2003)
Bokanowski : L'Etoile absinthe (2000)
Boulez : Derive II (1988-2006)
Catan : Il Postino (2010) http://video.pbs.org/video/2170737097
Chapela : Concerto for Electric Cello "Magnetar" (2011) https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bwe...XAzaVhjeWV1LW8
Chapela : Inguesu (2003) 



- 



Chin : Cello Concerto (2009)
Chin : Violin Concerto (2001) 
Chin, Six Piano Etudes (1995-2003) 



Daugherty : Fire and Blood for Solo Violin and Orchestra (2003) 
Dusapin : Seven Solos for Orchestra (1992-2009)
Ferreyra : Les larmes de l'inconnu (2011) 
Furrer : Piano Concerto (2007)
Glass : Kepler (2009) 



Glass : Songs and Poems for Solo Cello (2006) 



Golijov : Ainadamar (2003)
Golijov: La Pasión según San Marcos (2000)
Gubaidulina : St. John's Passion (2000)
Gubaidulina, In Tempus Praesens (2007) 



Hallgrimsson : Cello Concerto (2003) 
Harrison : Harpsichord Sonata (2000)
Higdon : Violin Concerto (2009)
Höller : Sphären (2001-2006) http://www.believedigital.com/artist...r.html?lang=it
Kernis : Color Wheel (2001)
Kilar - Symphony No.3 "September Symphony" (2003)
Ligeti : With Pipes, Drums, Fiddles (2000) 
Lindberg: Concerto for Orchestra (2003) http://www.ondine.net/?lid=en&cid=2.2&oid=4563
Lindberg : Clarinet Concerto (2002)
Maxwell Davies : Quartet #7 (2005)
Maxwell Davies : Quartet #10 (2006)
Monk : Songs of Ascension (2006) 
Moravec : Tempest Fantasy (2002) 
Muhly: Seeing Is Believing, Concerto for electric violin (2007-2011)
Nelson : Objet sonore/objet cinétique (2007)
Noetinger / eRikm : What a Wonderful World (2002) 
Nordgren : Pictures Of The Country's Past (2006)
Nørgård : Symphony No. 7 (2006) 
Pärt : Lamentate for piano and orchestra (2002) 
Penderecki : Symphony No. 8 "Lieder der Vergänglichkeit" (2004-05, rev. 2008)
Saariaho : Clarinet Concerto "D'Om Le Vrai Sens" (2010)
Saariaho : L'Aile du songe (flute concerto) (2001) 



- 



Saariaho : L'Amour de Loin (2000) 
Sallinen : Symphony No. 8 "Autumnal Fragments", Op. 81 (2001) 
Tavener : Prayer Of The Heart (2001)
Thoresen : Opus 42, for vocal sextet (2008-2009) 
- https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?f...X7041888515623 
Tone / Hecker : Palimpsest (2004)
Widmann : Armonica (2007) 



Widmann : Oktett (2004)
Widmann : Implosion für Orchester (2001) 



- 



Yoshimatsu : Symphony #4 (2000) 



Yoshimatsu : Symphony #5 (2001)


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I am a composition (written in 1997) :devil:

Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedűvel is one of the most amazing works of all time.

Other than *Ligeti,* I am quite partial to Adès' opera _The Tempest,_ Dufourt's _L'Asie d'après Tiepolo_ and Philip Glass' Symphony no. 8.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Mephistopheles said:


> Personally, while I'm increasingly familiarising myself with the best of the 20th century (Ligeti included), I am not so knowledgeable about music written at the turn of our own century, and I think that's a shame. And while I follow some contemporary music blogs to discover music being written by living composers, I very much feel as though I am only catching glimpses at small sections of modern musical culture without really getting to grips with the broad stylistic and aesthetic _trends_ of our time, and it is that more than anything that I'd like to use this thread to understand.


There are no _trends_ these days. Composers all live as hermits in whale carcasses on a mountain peak doing whatever the hell they want now without a thought on society.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> Tan Dun, _Water Concerto_ (2007). Soloist performs with two large bowls of water, literally, and a symphony orchestra.


I haven't heard this but I've looked through the score. Very interesting stuff.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

One of my favorites is Yoshimatsu. Symphony 4 is great. Neo-Impressionism.


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

neoshredder said:


> Here are the works voted best in that game.
> 
> Best of 2000-2012:
> 1 - Chin: Cello Concerto (2009)
> ...


Quite unusual that 6 out of the 10 pieces were composed by female composers.


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2012)

_6_ out of 10 pieces.

And 3 women out of 7 people.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

If I were somewhat richer I'd be following all the new compositions released by the ECM label in their "New Series". Producer and label owner Manfred Eicher is, as always, one of the worlds greatest talent spotters and talent magnets, and is now carrying the torch for new classical, as they have been with jazz for quite some time now.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I like KAIROS label better. They've got all the Spectralists.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Mephistopheles said:


> so there is a lot to work with in tonality and I don't think you need to avoid it absolutely to be taken seriously.


Here's a work which is tonal yet uncommon: Lou Harrison's Concerto for Pipa and String Orchestra.






This was completed in 1997, but sounds (to me, anyway) no more advanced than a work done - say - in 1937.
Nonetheless, it doesn't sound dated because it eschews trends/fashions from any decade by its focus on Asian scales/intervals.
Not only does this pipa concerto have a timelessness about it, but, by distancing itself from some of the Western orchestral standards, it blends (unwittingly, most likely) into the current politically-correct climates of the past 2 decades.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

One of the most tired old canards of our time is that there is a lack of new music, and that little but the same old familiar works of the past gets performed today . On the contrary, despite the popularity of music from the past, there is absolutely no lack of new music in the present day, and music by who knows how many living composers is being performed currently .
"Dead White European Males " have absolutely no monopoly on classical music today , as popular as their music remains . There are more women composers than ever before, and a number of them have been widely performed . There are plenty of American composers , and quite a few from Japan, South Korea, China, 
the middle east and Latin America .


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I like KAIROS label better. They've got all the Spectralists.


I agree that Kairos is a superb label whose primary focus is the dissemination of new(ish) compositions.

In 1999, Kairos issued an album of music by Matthias Pintscher:










One of the works - Music from Thomas Chatterton - had been completed only the year before and, intriguingly, received a 2nd recording not long afterwards to appear within a 2001 CD program on Teldec's "New Line".










These orchestral pieces by Pintscher would be classified by most people as avant-garde, though what may have been considered avant-garde in the last quarter of the 20th century might well become a _lingua franca_ in the 21st century.

In any case, this is one of the rare instances of a recent composition which surfaces onto more than one album within a few years of its completion.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

There's plenty of excellent Australian composers around, either alive and kicking or recently passed away. Check out this thread I made, and I am planning to add to it, its a work in progress:
http://www.talkclassical.com/5632-australian-composers.html
My favourite Australian living composers are Peter Sculthorpe and Nigel Westlake, and my favourite one who died in recent years is Richard Meale. But there are many other ones on that thread, check it out!


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## Rapide (Oct 11, 2011)

Music by Pierre Boulez,. i suggest this excellent new album.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

1998 was an interesting year for operas.

Here's 3 operas that were based upon source material which had been previously adapted for cinema:

In 1970, Laurence Olivier helmed a film of Chekhov's THREE SISTERS;
in 1998, we witness THREE SISTERS on Deutsche Grammophon by Peter Eotvos.










In 1980, David Lynch (courtesy Mel Brooks!) gave audiences an effective THE ELEPHANT MAN.
Laurent Petitgirard's JOSEPH MERRICK, THE ELEPHANT MAN is rather conventional by comparison.










Volker Schlondorff directed THE HANDMAID'S TALE in 1990 based upon a novel by Margaret Atwood, which also served as the source for the libretto of this opera by Poul Ruders (who composed it in 1998, but had to wait for year 2000 for its premiere).










No doubt these are all coincidences which just happened around the same time, but it gives an overall impression of how operas during the past 15 years cross-fertilize with cinema as a source as valid as contemporary novels & plays. Operas need not be based upon Shakespeare or classical Greek tragedy in order hold a level of integrity...


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

One of the contemporary Italian composers whose music I collect is Luca Francesconi, who has very interesting things to say in more ways than one:
























The Stradivarius label, by the way, is another great record co. who champions living composers and (post-)modern works.


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## Llyranor (Dec 20, 2010)

One music piece I absolutely love love love was written 15 yrs ago. The violin concerto (Distant Light) by Peteris Vasks.


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)




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