# What's great about music from the 1980's?



## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I really enjoy the modern music from the 80's. Several famous composers wrote some of my favorite pieces...but, do I know why? Composers born in the 20's and 30's are in their prime, and already veterans of their craft. For my instrument, classical guitar, people like Davies, Berio and Denisov wrote major pieces and Leo Brouwer found his new style in El Decameron Negro. Recently I "discovered" Luigi Nono and his pieces from the decade are a fantastic sound world...I just had to tell!


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## Guest (Sep 16, 2018)

Computers really took off, IRCAM was going strong (though not without it's own internal issues with how to structure and staff its various departments), New Music ensembles were becoming a thing and being recorded by major labels. The composers who were young from the 40s to the 60s with their diamond-in-the-rough hard modernism of the mid-20th century were, as you say, in their prime and had really developed their craft to create the masterworks of the late 20th century.


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## derin684 (Feb 14, 2018)

80's have both nice classical and non-classical music, but I think I prefer music written in the older decades, such as Prokofiev!


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I was only thinking about the classical music. Prokofiev was actually my introduction to more modern music in high-school in the late 80s. For this thread he is 2 generations too old


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I think the only style that clicks with me from the '80s is spectralism and Arvo Part's tintinnabuli works (though John Tavener leaves me cold). I'm discovering Boulez from that period, so maybe my horizions will expand.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

My hero of the day!


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

My new hero from last week!


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

It's classical!


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

...and this!
So I've given some examples of my favorite music from the decade. Your turn


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Thanks for the examples. All of them are interesting. The electric guitar, maybe not so much. But I live in Nashville, and I'm kind of burned out on guitars - you can't walk three feet without stepping on one.

Here is a nice one from Takemitsu in 1987.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Ah! Takemitsu, one of my first favorites in the modern world! I played his Towards the Sea for alto flute/guitar (also 80's music) when studying in San Francisco, and will soon team up with a flautist I worked with 10 years ago.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Some favorites from the 80s by composers not yet mentioned: 

Ligeti's piano and violin concertos, and his etudes for piano. 
Schnittke: Violin Concerto #4, Viola Concerto, string quartets 
Gubaidulina: Offertorium
Elliott Carter: String quartets and triple duo
Penderecki: Cello and violin concerti


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I haven't heard so much Ligeti and Carter. Carter wrote the hardest piece for guitar in 1983 (Changes), but then Berio came along in 88 with Sequenza XI. Now there are many hardest pieces in the world  I actually like that musicians need to work hard to be able to play modern music, maybe a reason why it's not so popular...


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## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Feldman started writing his ultra-masterpieces in the '80s in my opinion. My favorites, For Philip Guston and Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, and most of his other super long (and perfect) pieces, Trio, Patterns in a Chromatic Field (Untitled Composition for Cello and Piano), Triadic Memories, For John Cage, Crippled Symmetry, String Quartet No. 2, For Bunita Marcus, Piano and String Quartet, Violin and String Quartet, For Christian Wolff, and some shorter pieces, Clarinet and String Quartet, Coptic Light, For Stefan Wolpe, Words and Music, For Samuel Beckett.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Fredx2098 said:


> Feldman started writing his ultra-masterpieces in the '80s in my opinion. My favorites, For Philip Guston and Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, and most of his other super long (and perfect) pieces, Trio, Patterns in a Chromatic Field (Untitled Composition for Cello and Piano), Triadic Memories, For John Cage, Crippled Symmetry, String Quartet No. 2, For Bunita Marcus, Piano and String Quartet, Violin and String Quartet, For Christian Wolff, and some shorter pieces, Clarinet and String Quartet, Coptic Light, For Stefan Wolpe, Words and Music, For Samuel Beckett.


Aha! Add another composer to my list of '80s compositions that I like.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Manxfeeder said:


> Aha! Add another composer to my list of '80s compositions that I like.


HURRA! I'm sure you'll find some more too  I have For Bunita Marcus on CD, but listen to CD's only in my car, and I thought the music was too tender for my noisy car...


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## derin684 (Feb 14, 2018)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> I was only thinking about the classical music. Prokofiev was actually my introduction to more modern music in high-school in the late 80s. For this thread he is 2 generations too old


You are right, Prokofiev died in 1953. But you might want to check Schnittke's Concerto Grosso(1-5), and the Piano Trio. I'm not sure that all of them were written in the 80's.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Schnittke is a favorite of mine, my first CD ever was his music on BIS, the fantastic Concerto Grosso no. 1 and Piano Concerto  Think they are from the 70's. I guided this thread in a bit wrong direction...I'm wondering why music from the 80's is great. I suspect it's because the experimental composers were getting older and had settled their style and were not so interested in pushing borders anymore. In Penderecki's music I noticed a change between 1st and 2nd symphony. When I think about it all, it seems like a never ending story


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> Schnittke is a favorite of mine, my first CD ever was his music on BIS, the fantastic Concerto Grosso no. 1 and Piano Concerto  Think they are from the 70's. I guided this thread in a bit wrong direction...I'm wondering why music from the 80's is great. I suspect it's because the experimental composers were getting older and had settled their style and were not so interested in pushing borders anymore. In Penderecki's music I noticed a change between 1st and 2nd symphony. When I think about it all, it seems like a never ending story


Well, shucks, there's another one I forgot about. I seem to remember I liked his cello concerto from 1985. I need to hear it again.

And there's Ligeti's piano concerto.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

...and Lutoslawski piano concerto, because it's awesome


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## derin684 (Feb 14, 2018)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> ...and Lutoslawski piano concerto, because it's awesome


I'm listening to this right now, and it IS awesome! I can't believe that I never heard of him before! Thanks for reccomending it.


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## derin684 (Feb 14, 2018)

What about Messiaen's compositions in the 80's, what do you think of it?


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

derin684 said:


> What about Messiaen's compositions in the 80's, what do you think of it?


Also one of my first modern favorites! I haven't investigated the man in the 80's, it's become an interest just lately and first just guitar music. Some younger composers like Gerard Grisey and Tristan Murail (not so young anymore...) wrote so called spectral music in the 80's. Them and the older Luigi Nono are my latest discoveries in modern music.


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Funny, I remember the '80's as the decade where Steve Reich and Philip Glass became gods to my dismay, at least in North America. Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk, multimedia. And digital music was the idol that ought to rule. 

I prefer the people mentioned in the above posts.


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

Jazz Fusion music............ohhhh classical 1880's music sorry


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Roger Knox said:


> Funny, I remember the '80's as the decade where Steve Reich and Philip Glass became gods to my dismay, at least in North America. Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk, multimedia. And digital music was the idol that ought to rule.
> 
> I prefer the people mentioned in the above posts.


I remember when Laurie Anderson's O Superman hit the charts. It was so huge, Time Magazine even did an article on it.


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## derin684 (Feb 14, 2018)

Funny, I never enjoyed Glass. What do you like in his music?


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## Guest (Sep 19, 2018)

Roger Knox said:


> Funny, I remember the '80's as the decade where Steve Reich and Philip Glass became gods to my dismay, at least in North America. Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk, multimedia. And digital music was the idol that ought to rule.
> 
> I prefer the people mentioned in the above posts.


Probably because I wasn't alive in the 80s and I've never been to North America, I've never thought this could have been the case due to the incredible variety of styles coming out or Europe at the time....


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

Fredx2098 said:


> Feldman started writing his ultra-masterpieces in the '80s in my opinion. My favorites, For Philip Guston and Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, and most of his other super long (and perfect) pieces, Trio, Patterns in a Chromatic Field (Untitled Composition for Cello and Piano), Triadic Memories, For John Cage, Crippled Symmetry, String Quartet No. 2, For Bunita Marcus, Piano and String Quartet, Violin and String Quartet, For Christian Wolff, and some shorter pieces, Clarinet and String Quartet, Coptic Light, For Stefan Wolpe, Words and Music, For Samuel Beckett.


My favorite Feldman's works, which are for solo piano, were all composed in 1980s: Triadic Memories (1981), For Bunita Marcus (1985), Palais de Mari (1986)


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## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

tortkis said:


> My favorite Feldman's works, which are for solo piano, were all composed in 1980s: Triadic Memories (1981), For Bunita Marcus (1985), Palais de Mari (1986)


I love those ones. It's a pity that Palais de Mari is so darn short. I got to see Triadic Memories and For Bunita Marcus played back to back a few weeks ago, and that was amazing.


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## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

derin684 said:


> Funny, I never enjoyed Glass. What do you like in his music?


He's not my favorite, but I'm a fan. I've seen a bit of hate for him lately. Why? Is it too minimal, not complex enough, what? What good would there be in describing why I like it? It's minimalism, I like minimalism, and I think his music is a good example. Someone who doesn't like minimalism wouldn't like him.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I guess minimalism was pop in the 80's. I like Electric Counterpoint by Steve Reich


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## derin684 (Feb 14, 2018)

I guess you are right, it's too repetitive for my taste.


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

The 80s brought us late Cage, Feldman, Messiaen, Lutoslawski, Carter (who stayed around a lot longer), Donatoni, Dutilleux, Ligeti, Xenakis, on and on... and the younger generation that followed them - Lindberg, Murail, Ferneyhough were just getting their groove on... these composers form the core of my "new" music listening...

I think this was a very strong period that continued through the end of the decade... and is now a reference point for younger imitators, commercial and film music etc.

I've never accepted minimalism as more than a good thing done too persistently, from what I've heard.


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