# Your top 20 late 20th/21st century composers



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

As an avid fan of modern music I'd appreciate your contribution. There are so many up and coming composers that it's quite daunting to sort the worthwhile from the pedestrian. Who are the greatest and brightest, in your opinion?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Well, I certainly can't say about the "greatest and brightest", but I can share with you my list of favourite living composers:

Salvatore Sciarrino
Steve Reich
Brian Ferneyhough
Sofia Gubaidulina
Tristan Murail
Kaija Saariaho
Wolfgang Rihm
György Kurtág 
Philippe Boesmans 
Olga Neuwirth
Harrison Birtwistle
John Adams
Peter Eötvös
Einojuhani Rautavaara 
Helmut Lachenmann 
Beat Furrer
Michael Jarrell 
George Benjamin
Gerald Barry
José María Sánchez-Verdú


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

In no particular order & with very mixed criteria, on top of my head:


- Gubajdulina
- Nørgård
- Saariaho
- Silvestrov
- Onute Narbutaite
- Boulez
- Murail
- Szymanski, Pawel
- Penderecki (mostly for pre-1990 stuff)
- Maxwell-Davies (of mixed interest)
- Vyacheslav Artyomov
- Pärt
- Slonimsky, Sergei
- George Crumb

Some composers where I find a few works attractive: 
- Ruders
- Eötvös
- Vassily Lobanov
- Gloria Coates
- Ib Nørholm
- Rautavaara
- Corigliano

etc etc


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Adès
Ligeti
Brett Dean
Carter
Furrer
Ferneyhough
Rautavaara
Nørgård
Boulez
Reich
Dufourt
Pärt
Schnittke
Liza Lim
Andriessen
Lachenmann
Sculthorpe
Adams
Gubaidulina 
Nyman


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Band Junkie Strikes Again*

Most of the above.

As a band junkie I would include the following who have made significant contribution to the band literature. Unfortunately I would concede that the band genre tends to be a be conservative. The only real adventurous one is Karol Husa who is in his 90's.

Karol Husa
Mark Camphouse
Michael Daugherty
David Gillingham 
Donald Grantham
Anthony Iannaccone
Yasuhide Ito (A Japanese Composer who has done some great stuff)
Robert Jager
David Maslanka
Cindy McTee
Ron Nelson
Phillip Sparke
Jack Stamp
Frank Ticheli

With the exception of Sparke and Ito, all of the above are American or American citizens (Husa is Czech but has lived and worked in the USA since 1954). Concert band music is really big in the USA.

Gunther Schuller is in his eighties and he has also done some great band works.


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## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

Penderecki
MacMillan
Daugherty
Maxwell Davies
Adés
Aho
Norgard


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## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

I know I've been mentioning him everywhere, but it really strikes me that Giya Kancheli is so overlooked on here.
Will need to make a thread about him sooner or later.


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