# Arvo Pärt is the world’s most performed living composer for the eighth year running



## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

And a respectable 46th overall. The top 5 living composers:
46. Arvo Pärt
52. John Williams
81. Jörg Widmann
82. Sir James MacMillan
85. Philip Glass
The top 10 composers overall:
Beethoven, Bernstein, Bach, Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Schumann and Handel. Before you express shock and outrage at the high ranking of Leonard Bernstein, remember that West Side Story and Candide are generally considered classical operas, perhaps not so much in the US, but more so in the rest of the world. Still, the irony is considerable, as Bernstein was considered a great conductor but a relatively minor composer during his lifetime by "serious" critics like Virgil Thomson. Towards the end of his life he became quite angry and bitter about it, feeling he had spent much of his career promoting and supporting the work of his fellow living composers (like David Diamond) while his own music was undervalued. But the long term verdict has been in his favor. I wonder how far down the list one would have to go to find Diamond or Thomson?

https://bachtrack.com/files/96739-EN-Classical-music-statistics-2018.pdf


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I'll take Bernstein over any of the top five.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

starthrower said:


> I'll take Bernstein over any of the top five.


Sorry if I wasn't clear. The highest ranking living composer, Pärt, is at no. 46 overall. Bernstein is up there at no. 2 overall. So most classical audiences of 2018 seem to agree with you.


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

fluteman said:


> And a respectable 46th overall. The top 5 living composers:
> 46. Arvo Pärt
> 52. John Williams
> 81. Jörg Widmann
> ...


Astonished to see Bernstein at no.2 - I didn't realise his popularity. I hardly know anything by him except the well known pieces.


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

fluteman said:


> And a respectable 46th overall. The top 5 living composers:
> 46. Arvo Pärt
> 52. John Williams
> 81. Jörg Widmann
> ...


You missed out Mozart.

1. Beethoven
2. Mozart
3. Bernstein
4. Bach
5. Brahms
6. Schubert
7. Tchaikovsky
8. Debussy
9. Schumann
10. Handel


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

janxharris said:


> You missed out Mozart.
> 
> 1. Beethoven
> 2. Mozart
> ...


I was wondering how many people would be shocked not to see Mozart's name in the top 10.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Bernstein is number 3 because it's the 100th year anniversary of his birth. He was 27th last year and 43rd the year before.


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

mmsbls said:


> Bernstein is number 3 because it's the 100th year anniversary of his birth. He was 27th last year and 43rd the year before.


Ah - of course................


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

janxharris said:


> You missed out Mozart.
> 
> 1. Beethoven
> 2. Mozart
> ...


Sorry, my typing is imperfect.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

mmsbls said:


> Bernstein is number 3 because it's the 100th year anniversary of his birth. He was 27th last year and 43rd the year before.


No doubt true, but I stand by my initial comment. You didn't see Virgil Thomson or David Diamond rise to no. 3 in the world on their 100th anniversary. Yet in his time Bernstein was considered a less important composer than either. That's no doubt in part because Bernstein was very successful in the less prestigious Broadway musical sphere, although his close friend and mentor Aaron Copland also composed for Broadway and Hollywood -- arguably with less success than Bernstein.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

A question for genealogists: Are Arvo Pärt and Neil Peart related? One can't help but surmise that Peart is an anglicization of Pärt.....


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

I’ve no problem with Pärt and the music’s message. However, I do find the music itself rather bland.


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## Guest (Jan 11, 2019)

Nice to see Widmann doing so well! Not surprised about Pärt tbh as his music is very easily to put together with minimal rehearsal time.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

It's surprising to see Arvo Part above Philip Glass. Not that it's a bad thing, just surprising.


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Strange Magic said:


> A question for genealogists: Are Arvo Pärt and Neil Peart related? One can't help but surmise that Peart is an anglicization of Pärt.....


And Rush wrote some great music.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

HURRA for Bernstein! I like that Widmann and MacMillan get noticed


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Strange Magic said:


> A question for genealogists: Are Arvo Pärt and Neil Peart related? One can't help but surmise that Peart is an anglicization of Pärt.....


I don't know, but violinist Nathan Milstein was the first cousin of movie director Lewis Milestone (born Leib Milstein), who won the first Academy award in the best director category for "All Quiet On The Western Front". When studio executives complained that the movie was too grim, he replied, "Do you want the Germans to win?"


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

It is surprising seeing Glass so low. My perception may be off here but I was thinking he was really well known especially among living composers. And I wouldn't have expected Steve Reich to not even break the top 100. 

Anyway, Pärt at number 1 I would say is well deserved. I'm a big fan of his music, and it is pretty accessible really.


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## Guest (Jan 11, 2019)

Strange Magic said:


> A question for genealogists: Are Arvo Pärt and Neil Peart related? One can't help but surmise that Peart is an anglicization of Pärt.....


Nope - Last name: Peart - recorded in several spelling forms including Peart, Peaurt, Peert, Perte, and originally Pert, this is a surname of seemingly Anglo-Scottish origins.

Certain dictionaries of surnames claim that it is locational from a village called Pert near Montrose, so called from a Celtic term for a wood or copse (which I kind of doubt because "wood" is "fiodh" and "woods" are "coilltean" in Scots Gaelic and "wood" is "adhmad" and "woods" are "coillte" in Irish so that theory in all likelihood is just pure rubbish).


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Donny Brook said:


> Nope - Last name: Peart - recorded in several spelling forms including Peart, Peaurt, Peert, Perte, and originally Pert, this is a surname of seemingly Anglo-Scottish origins.
> 
> Certain dictionaries of surnames claim that it is locational from a village called Pert near Montrose, so called from a Celtic term for a wood or copse (which I kind of doubt because "wood" is "fiodh" and "woods" are "coilltean" in Scots Gaelic and "wood" is "adhmad" and "woods" are "coillte" in Irish so that theory in all likelihood is just pure rubbish).


You may be correct that Neil Peart's last name is an Anglo-Scottish surname. But then again it may really be an anglicized version of Pärt, and only a genealogist could actually verify the one possibility or the other. North American surnames are a hodge-podge of both ancient and reworked names, and it's often difficult to tell which is which without genealogical scrutiny.


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## andrzejmakal (Jun 5, 2014)

flamencosketches said:


> It is surprising seeing Glass so low. My perception may be off here but I was thinking he was really well known especially among living composers. And I wouldn't have expected Steve Reich to not even break the top 100.
> 
> Anyway, Pärt at number 1 I would say is well deserved. I'm a big fan of his music, and it is pretty accessible really.


Ditto. Fully agree. .


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## Guest (Jan 12, 2019)

Strange Magic said:


> You may be correct that Neil Peart's last name is an Anglo-Scottish surname. But then again it may really be an anglicized version of Pärt, and only a genealogist could actually verify the one possibility or the other. North American surnames are a hodge-podge of both ancient and reworked names, and it's often difficult to tell which is which without genealogical scrutiny.


Try this then -

https://www.ancestry.ca/name-origin?surname=peart&geo_a=r&o_iid=41015&o_lid=41015&o_sch=Web+Property

Being fairly fluent in both Scots Gaelic and Irish I knew that it didn't derive from either of them but I have to admit that it never occurred to me that it was a Pictish term as Pict is an extinct language and one that no one that I ever encountered was familiar with. If there are any Picts left in our midst they're keeping a rather low profile...

*deagh fhortan anns a 'bhliadhna ùir!*

*dea-ádh sa bhliain nua!*


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

janxharris said:


> Astonished to see Bernstein at no.2 - I didn't realise his popularity. I hardly know anything by him except the well known pieces.


Skip West Side Story and listen to his classical stuff.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

flamencosketches said:


> It is surprising seeing Glass so low. My perception may be off here but I was thinking he was really well known especially among living composers. And I wouldn't have expected Steve Reich to not even break the top 100.
> 
> Anyway, Pärt at number 1 I would say is well deserved. I'm a big fan of his music, and it is pretty accessible really.


Well, no. 5 among all living composers in live concert performances isn't too bad for Mr. Glass, especially as it doesn't include his extensive contributions to movie sound tracks, which have helped his music become familiar to the general public, even if most of them don't know his name. Of course, you can hear Pärt's music in movies too.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Here's how living composers stack up in the US orchestral concert market, at least in the 2016-17 season (the last that I have). The data are based on 40+ major orchestras and so exclude non-orchestral music.


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## SalieriIsInnocent (Feb 28, 2008)

Surprised to not see Penderecki on the list.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

SalieriIsInnocent said:


> Surprised to not see Penderecki on the list.


He's better known outside America.


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## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

Who was the most performed living composer before Arvo Pärt became a leader eight years ago?


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

Mifek said:


> Who was the most performed living composer before Arvo Pärt became a leader eight years ago?


I believe it was Karl Jenkins who, according to some sources, still is the world's most performed living composer.


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## Zofia (Jan 24, 2019)

fluteman said:


> And a respectable 46th overall. The top 5 living composers:
> 46. Arvo Pärt
> 52. John Williams
> 81. Jörg Widmann
> ...


My eyes are broken where is Wagner?


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I haven't heard any Part in quite a few years -- but I do member that 20 or so years ago the then-music critic of the Boston Globe wrote something very close to: "There's always a composer loved by people who don't like classical music, while driving crazy those who do, These days ir's Arvo Part . . ."


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Zofia said:


> My eyes are broken where is Wagner?


Wagner is just not so living...


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## Zofia (Jan 24, 2019)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> Wagner is just not so living...


So he should be top of all lists (sorry I was trolling a liitle)


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

It is surprising not to see Wagner in the top 10 overall! Mozart too, but I think OP admitted they'd omitted his name for comic effect :lol:

That description of Pärt as a composer for people who don't like classical music is quite fitting: years before I was into the greater classical music tradition at all, I loved Pärt and Górecki. Still do, but sadly I don't rate them quite as highly as I had before (particularly Górecki who I've resigned to only appreciating one piece of his, you all know the one.) Pärt really is a great composer and I think the accolade is well deserved. His music is so beautiful and unique, and in my book he is the latest truly visionary composer in music history.


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## LezLee (Feb 21, 2014)

Manxfeeder said:


> It's surprising to see Arvo Part above Philip Glass. Not that it's a bad thing, just surprising.


Yes, I'm surprised too. I hear plenty of Glass on the radio but apart from Spiegel im Spiegel almost no Pärt. Never heard of Widmann. I find it quite dispiriting to see the ubiquitous John Williams up there.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

Zofia said:


> So he should be top of all lists (sorry I was trolling a liitle)


Agreed, I love his music and also think that he should be among the top of all "greater composer" lists. Fortunately for me, people here at TC tend to be somewhat receptive to this great master of the past.


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## Zofia (Jan 24, 2019)

flamencosketches said:


> It is surprising not to see Wagner in the top 10 overall! Mozart too, but I think OP admitted they'd omitted his name for comic effect :lol:
> 
> That description of Pärt as a composer for people who don't like classical music is quite fitting: years before I was into the greater classical music tradition at all, I loved Pärt and Górecki. Still do, but sadly I don't rate them quite as highly as I had before (particularly Górecki who I've resigned to only appreciating one piece of his, you all know the one.) Pärt really is a great composer and I think the accolade is well deserved. His music is so beautiful and unique, and in my book he is the latest truly visionary composer in music history.


I think his third will always be his one trick pony maybe I like his other works if you've not heard Górecki posthumously released 4th you do try it. Uh for me I always fit Glass into this description more than either AP has depth both others lack IMO.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

starthrower said:


> Skip West Side Story and listen to his classical stuff.


Afraid I don't find his classical stuff very inspiring. West Side Story is another matter


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## LezLee (Feb 21, 2014)

From houseofnames.com

Peart History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms


The history of the name Peart goes back those Anglo-Saxon tribes that once ruled over Britain. Such a name was given to a person who was referred to as Peat. The surname Peart was originally derived from the Old English word which meant a spoiled or pampered child. 
Early Origins of the Peart family


The surname Peart was first found in Kent where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Zofia said:


> I think his third will always be his one trick pony maybe I like his other works if you've not heard Górecki posthumously released 4th you do try it. Uh for me I always fit Glass into this description more than either AP has depth both others lack IMO.


I have not heard Górecki's fourth, I'll look into it. Ubiquitous as it may be his third is really, really good. And yes, I see Glass in that description too, and Steve Reich - both are also composers I enjoyed before really getting into classical music. Pärt does have a lot of depth to his music, yes. But I see it as being very accessible to a non-classical audience, especially to fans of ambient music, which I was.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

flamencosketches said:


> *It is surprising not to see Wagner in the top 10 overall! Mozart too, but I think OP admitted they'd omitted his name for comic effect* :lol:
> 
> That description of Pärt as a composer for people who don't like classical music is quite fitting: years before I was into the greater classical music tradition at all, I loved Pärt and Górecki. Still do, but sadly I don't rate them quite as highly as I had before (particularly Górecki who I've resigned to only appreciating one piece of his, you all know the one.) Pärt really is a great composer and I think the accolade is well deserved. His music is so beautiful and unique, and in my book he is the latest truly visionary composer in music history.


The thing is that this list is made based on the number of worldwide performances of the music of classical composers in 2018, and Wagner's operas tend to not be performed so much due to their lenght and complexity.

If you look at google trends, you'll find that he tends to be among the most searched classical composers though:


__
https://www.reddit.com/r/classicalmusic/comments/2fy21e

Wagner is quite popular here at TC also. He is currently ranked 4th at the poll below, which has more than 270 votes and is quite representative of the members's preferences over the years, I suppose:

The greatest composer?


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## Zofia (Jan 24, 2019)

flamencosketches said:


> I have not heard Górecki's fourth, I'll look into it. Ubiquitous as it may be his third is really, really good. And yes, I see Glass in that description too, and Steve Reich - both are also composers I enjoyed before really getting into classical music. Pärt does have a lot of depth to his music, yes. But I see it as being very accessible to a non-classical audience, especially to fans of ambient music, which I was.


I was actually classical first and then got into ambient and edm. Still agree very much with you as for the 4th it is on Spotify. It is not like the 3rd though fair warnings.


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## Zofia (Jan 24, 2019)

LezLee said:


> From houseofnames.com
> 
> Peart History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
> 
> ...


Is this where "prat" comes from? My British friend has said this before it seems like brat which would fit with your post.


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