# 21st Century Classical



## Blancrocher

Hi Everyone,

This is a thread for the discussion of 21st century music. It's just a place to mention all sorts of news, including recent compositions, composers and works you've discovered, intriguing genres, new instruments, award announcements, album releases, premieres, favorite new music blogs, etc. Youtube clips and article links are great if you've got them.

There are similar threads on the board: some focus on particular genres, and most of them ask for favorites. Feel free to link to interesting posts on other threads. I hope this one will be a casual and easy-going thread that can gather information and ideas that don't fit very well elsewhere.

A word about etiquette: this is emphatically not a debate thread. If anyone posts music you dislike or inflammatory polemics, please do not engage with them (if something is way over the line, report it). It would be nice if there were no negativity at all. I'd like it if people felt comfortable mentioning 21st-century music of any style.

...

A few introductory links for newcomers to contemporary music:

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st-century_classical_music

Alex Ross: http://www.therestisnoise.com/2006/05/new_music_links.html

Ross has fairly comprehensive lists of esteemed contemporary composers and ensembles.

Tom Service: https://www.theguardian.com/music/series/a-guide-to-contemporary-classical-music

In a popular series, Service chose 50 composers to try to "tell the story of the contemporary music scene." It does not have many active composers, though it could serve as useful background.

schigolch: http://www.talkclassical.com/16411-contemporary-opera.html

Finally, I thought I'd mention a great, long-running thread managed by our own schigolch, which provides information about contemporary operas.

...

I hope that some people will enjoy the thread--thanks for participating!


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## Kjetil Heggelund

http://www.sikorski.de/2/en/news.html
Here's a small start on news from publisher Sikorski. I sometimes check out major publishers for news and profiled composers. Also post a link to a youtube channel that's pretty interesting  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDQ3HbQlR768JjHJ8CIhtRw
Peace & love!


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## mmsbls

Great thread idea. I hope this continues to grow with people adding links to music, resources, information, etc.. One of my favorite TC threads concerning contemporary music is New Generations. Not all the music listed is 21st century, but essentially all composers are contemporary.

Also I'd like to mention the radio station WQXR Q2. It plays and discusses contemporary music.


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## Bluecrab

mmsbls said:


> One of my favorite TC threads concerning contemporary music is New Generations... Also I'd like to mention the radio station WQXR Q2. It plays and discusses contemporary music.


Here's a link to a similar online station called Counterstream Radio:

https://www.newmusicusa.org/counterstream-radio/

I came to know the music of many of the young composers mentioned in the thread you linked to on this station.


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## Becca

By very rough estimate my collection is about 55% 20th century, 40% 19th century and 5% for the rest. Within that last 5% are a number of 21st century pieces in various styles which have made it into the semi-regular listening.

In no particular order..

James MacMillan
Piano concerto #2 - 



 Violin Concerto - 




Peter Maxwell Davies
Symphony #10 - "Alla ricerca di Borromini" - 




Hans Abrahamsen
_ let me tell you _ - song cycle for soprano and orchestra - 




Jennifer Higdon
_City Scape_ - for orchestra - 




Gerald Barry
_The Importance of Being Earnest_ - two act opera based on the Oscar Wilde play - 




Henri Dutilleux
_Correspondances_ - song cycle for soprano and orchestra - 




Esa-Pekka Salonen
_L.A. Variations _- for orchestra - 



 - this is actually from 1997 but quite representative of Salonen.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

https://bachtrack.com/article-bachtrack-guide-contemporary-music-festivals-january-2017?utm_content=buffer90f48&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
I also subscribe to this newsletter. Surf away!


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## Blancrocher

mmsbls said:


> Also I'd like to mention the radio station WQXR Q2. It plays and discusses contemporary music.


This station did a year-end countdown of listeners' favorite works of the last 20 years. There are a handful of pieces I'm unfamiliar with--I look forward to giving them a try. For anyone interested:



> 50. Louis Andriessen - La Passione
> 49. Enno Poppe - Keilschrift
> 48. Thomas Ades - Tevot
> 47. Kaija Saariaho - Orion
> 46. Sofia Gubaidulina - In tempus praesens
> 45. Donnacha Dennehy - That the Night Come
> 44. Esa Pekka Salonen - Violin Concerto
> 43. Sarah Kirkland Snider - Unremembered
> 42. Ann Southam - Simple Lines of Enquiry
> 41. Anna Thorvaldsdottir - Aeriality
> 40. Gérard Grisey - Quatre Chants pour franchir le seuil
> 39. John Zorn - Shir Ha-Shirim/The Song of Songs
> 38. Nico Muhly - Viola Concerto
> 37. Tristan Perich - Surface Image
> 36. Unsuk Chin - Violin Concerto
> 35. Steven Stucky - Symphony
> 34. John Adams - On the Transmigration of Souls
> 33. Julia Wolfe - Steel Hammer
> 32. Peter Eotvos - Seven
> 31. David Lang - The Passing Measures
> 30. Jennifer Higdon - Violin Concerto
> 29. George Benjamin - Written on Skin
> 28. Ted Hearne - Law of Mosaics
> 27. David T. Little - Dog Days
> 26. Chaya Czernowin - Maim
> 25. Lisa Bielawa - Double Violin Concerto
> 24. Chris Theofanidis - Rainbow Body
> 23. Meredith Monk - Songs of Ascension
> 22. Henri Dutilleux - Correspondances
> 21. Osvaldo Golijov - Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra
> 20. John Luther Adams - In the White Silence
> 19. Jurg Frey - String Quartet No. 3
> 18. Thomas Ades - Polaris
> 17. Kaija Saariaho - D'om le vrai sens
> 16. Steve Reich - Double Sextet
> 15. Hans Abrahamsen - Schnee
> 14. Julia Wolfe - Anthracite Fields
> 13. Donnacha Dennehy - Grá Agus Bás
> 12. Anna Thorvaldsdottir - In the Light of Air
> 11. Andrew Norman - The Companion Guide to Rome
> 10. Georg Friedrich Haas - in vain
> 9. Thomas Ades - Asyla
> 8. David Lang - The Little Match Girl Passion
> 7. Kaija Saariaho - L'Amour de loin
> 6. John Adams - The Dharma At Big Sur
> 5. John Luther Adams - Become Ocean
> 4. Andrew Norman - Play
> 3. Missy Mazzoli - Breaking the Waves (* Because this piece has not yet been recorded, we've substituted Song from the Uproar)
> 2. Hans Abrahamsen - let me tell you
> 1. Caroline Shaw - Partita for 8 Voices


http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/vote-q2-musics-2016-new-music-countdown/


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## Barelytenor

I would highly recommended that readers interested in 21st century music buy a copy of Alex Ross's book _The Rest Is Noise._ It is a great read, very informative and well-written.

:tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


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## Guest

I have a buttload of 21st century music, but I'll wait to see if this thread can be stable for a few pages...


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## Simon Moon

Count me as another huge fan of 21st century music!



> 50. Louis Andriessen - La Passione
> 49. Enno Poppe - Keilschrift
> 48. Thomas Ades - Tevot
> 47. Kaija Saariaho - Orion
> 46. Sofia Gubaidulina - In tempus praesens
> 45. Donnacha Dennehy - That the Night Come
> 44. Esa Pekka Salonen - Violin Concerto
> 43. Sarah Kirkland Snider - Unremembered
> 42. Ann Southam - Simple Lines of Enquiry
> 41. Anna Thorvaldsdottir - Aeriality
> 40. Gérard Grisey - Quatre Chants pour franchir le seuil
> 39. John Zorn - Shir Ha-Shirim/The Song of Songs
> 38. Nico Muhly - Viola Concerto
> 37. Tristan Perich - Surface Image
> 36. Unsuk Chin - Violin Concerto
> 35. Steven Stucky - Symphony
> 34. John Adams - On the Transmigration of Souls
> 33. Julia Wolfe - Steel Hammer
> 32. Peter Eotvos - Seven
> 31. David Lang - The Passing Measures
> 30. Jennifer Higdon - Violin Concerto
> 29. George Benjamin - Written on Skin
> 28. Ted Hearne - Law of Mosaics
> 27. David T. Little - Dog Days
> 26. Chaya Czernowin - Maim
> 25. Lisa Bielawa - Double Violin Concerto
> 24. Chris Theofanidis - Rainbow Body
> 23. Meredith Monk - Songs of Ascension
> 22. Henri Dutilleux - Correspondances
> 21. Osvaldo Golijov - Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra
> 20. John Luther Adams - In the White Silence
> 19. Jurg Frey - String Quartet No. 3
> 18. Thomas Ades - Polaris
> 17. Kaija Saariaho - D'om le vrai sens
> 16. Steve Reich - Double Sextet
> 15. Hans Abrahamsen - Schnee
> 14. Julia Wolfe - Anthracite Fields
> 13. Donnacha Dennehy - Grá Agus Bás
> 12. Anna Thorvaldsdottir - In the Light of Air
> 11. Andrew Norman - The Companion Guide to Rome
> 10. Georg Friedrich Haas - in vain
> 9. Thomas Ades - Asyla
> 8. David Lang - The Little Match Girl Passion
> 7. Kaija Saariaho - L'Amour de loin
> 6. John Adams - The Dharma At Big Sur
> 5. John Luther Adams - Become Ocean
> 4. Andrew Norman - Play
> 3. Missy Mazzoli - Breaking the Waves (* Because this piece has not yet been recorded, we've substituted Song from the Uproar)
> 2. Hans Abrahamsen - let me tell you
> 1. Caroline Shaw - Partita for 8 Voices


I am somewhat surprised that nothing by Magnus Lindberg made this list.

While there are many great pieces in the above list, Linberg's "Sculpture" and "Concerto for Orchestra" are the equal, or better, than some of the pieces listed, in my opinion.

I will be checking into the pieces I am unfamiliar with on the list.


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## starthrower

Barelytenor said:


> I would highly recommended that readers interested in 21st century music buy a copy of Alex Ross's book _The Rest Is Noise._ It is a great read, very informative and well-written.
> 
> :tiphat:
> 
> Kind regards,
> 
> George


I don't remember reading too much about 21st century music in that book.


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## Barelytenor

starthrower said:


> I don't remember reading too much about 21st century music in that book.


I cry your pardon. Although a lot of the music he discusses in that book would be considered "modern" by many listeners (Berg, Schoenberg, Webern, Boulez, Messiaen), the subtitle of the book is "Listening to the 20th Century." When you get to be my age, Debussy sounds like it was written yesterday. Of course quite a few of the composers he discusses are still writing today, and some of it is even music. So, here's a link to Ross's audio samples from the book. http://www.therestisnoise.com/2007/01/book-audiofiles.html

:tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


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## Blancrocher

Barelytenor said:


> When you get to be my age, Debussy sounds like it was written yesterday.


:lol: you're forgiven!--but just a reminder to everyone that this thread should be primarily oriented to music composed since the year 2000.

I quick thank you for all the links posted so far--I'm especially enjoying both the radio stations.

(And I agree The Rest is Noise is a good book, btw.)


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## Michael42

Hi, new here but I'll make it up to you :lol:

I don't know a lot of living music but I found this on a Facebook page last night:






I think it's interesting to say the least, the composer has a unique conception of structure


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## Vaneyes

Re 21, Gubaidulina (85), Penderecki (83), Wuorinen (78), Sciarrino (69), Chin (55), currently hold the most interest for me. Kurtag (90), Norgard (84), Dusapin (61), somewhat less. Some are long-in-the-tooth, so replenishment may be in order in the not-too-distant-future. Ensuring of course to keep taking my vitamins, so all of this makes sense. But that's the beauty of Atonal, isn't it. It doesn't really have to *make sense* at any of life's intersections.

"I could tell you my adventures - beginning from this morning," said Alice a little timidly: "but it's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then." - Lewis Carroll


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## schigolch

Good idea to open a thread devoted to 21st century music, without the perennial debates on "atonality", "meaning of art", "4:33",... 

As a small first contribution to the thread, let me mention (an opera, what else?) a piece by the Spanish composer Héctor Parra, "Wilde", premiered just around one year ago at the Schwetzinger Festival. It's based on Händl Klaus's _Wilde - Der Mann mit den traurigen Augen_, with a libretto by the Austrian writer himself. And a staging by Calisto Bieito.


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## tortkis

The Living Composers Project - _a nonprofit database, charting the lives and works of composers in the here and now_
This is a good database of contemporary composers, listed by surname and country.

These are web sites I sometimes check for new music.
Sequenza 21/ - The Contemporary Classical Music Community
5:4 - "It's the most beautiful ugly sound in the world"
Just outside - Brian Olewnick
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN - New Classical Music News
Second Inversion - Rethink Classical


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## Blancrocher

tortkis said:


> [url=http://5against4.com/]5:4 - "It's the most beautiful ugly sound in the world"


Just thought I'd highlight Simon Cummings' end-of-year list of his favorite albums, which includes a lot of names that I don't think have ever been mentioned on the forum. There's a slant towards music with electronics and some stuff that could probably fairly be described as experimental pop:

http://5against4.com/2016/12/30/best-albums-of-2016-part-1/
http://5against4.com/2016/12/31/best-albums-of-2016-part-2/

For anyone interested, here's his "mixed tape" with selections from each album:



> • Mitski - Fireworks (from Puberty 2)
> • Me and My Drummer - Lancelot (from Love is a Fridge)
> • Bear McCreary - Alone in the Cave (from The Forest (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack))
> • Olga Neuwirth - Torching (from Goodnight Mommy (Original Soundtrack))
> • Jenny Hval - The Great Undressing (from Blood Bitch)
> • Kroy - Days (from Scavenger)
> • Maïa Vidal - The Tide (from You're the Waves)
> • Necro Deathmort - Moonstar (from The Capsule)
> • Wendy Bevan - Porcelain (from Rose and Thorn)
> • Oy - We We We We (from Space Diaspora)
> • James O'Callaghan - Empties-Impetus [excerpt] (from Espaces tautologiques)
> • Seth Parker Woods - Pierre Alexandre Tremblay: asinglewordisnotenough3 (invariant) [excerpt] (from asinglewordisnotenough)
> • Michael Moser - Antiphon-Stein: Side B [excerpt] (from Antiphon Stein)
> • Mark Korven - Caleb's Death (from The Witch (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack))
> • Richard Barrett - life-form (anthesis) (from Music for cello and electronics)
> • Bent Sørensen - Lacrimosa (from Snowbells)
> • Zahn | Hatami | McClure - Vhandaan (from Veerian)
> • Clara Iannotta - Al di là del bianco (from A Failed Entertainment: Werke 2009-2014)
> • Robin Foster - The Last Stand (from Anthropoid (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack))
> • SPC ECO - Slow Down (from All We Have Is Now)
> • Fritz Hauser - Rundum [excerpt] (from Different Beat)
> • Matmos - Ultimate Care II [excerpt] (from Ultimate Care II)
> • Supersilent - 13.9 [excerpt] (from 13)
> • The Natural History Museum - Australopithecus (from Attenborough)
> • Ladyhawke - A Love Song (from Wild Things)
> • Cliff Martinez - Neon Demon (from The Neon Demon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack))
> • Chaya Czernowin - At the Fringe of Our Gaze [excerpt] (from The Quiet: works for orchestra)
> • Claude Vivier - Première Partie: Air Du Baryton-Martin (from Kopernikus)
> • John Wall - Muta [*]-[*] (from Muta Variations)
> • Daniel Wohl - Holographic [excerpt] (from Holographic)
> • Jonty Harrison - Going / Places [excerpt] (from Voyages)
> • Stefan Fraunberger - Ereignishorizont [excerpt] (from Quellgeister #2 'Wurmloch')
> • Francis Dhomont - La métamorphose (from Le cri du Choucas)
> • Three Trapped Tigers - Tekkers (from Silent Earthling)
> • Katie Gately - Sire (from Color)
> • Sleigh Bells - Throw Me Down The Stairs (from Jessica Rabbit)
> • C Duncan - Like You Do (from The Midnight Sun)
> • Christian Fennesz & Jim O'Rourke - Wouldn't Wanna Be Swept Away [excerpt] (from It's Hard For Me To Say I'm Sorry)
> • Autechre - c7b2 [excerpt] (from elseq 2)
> • Kayo Dot - Amalia's Theme (from Plastic House on Base of Sky)


Here also is a list of all his reviews, mostly of new works premiered at major festivals:

http://5against4.com/list-of-contemporary-compositions-reviewed-on-54/


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## Blancrocher

tortkis said:


> [url=http://olewnick.blogspot.com/]Just outside - Brian Olewnick


And another year-end list:



> Favorite releases of 2016, allowing that I've heard far fewer this year than in years past. Thanks, as ever, to all the musicians and labels involved.
> 
> Keith Rowe - The Room Extended (Erstwhile)
> 75 Dollar Bill - Wood/Metal/Plastic/Pattern/Rhythm/Rock (Thin Wrist Recordings)
> Ryoko Akama - Acceptance (Suppedaneum)
> AMM - Spanish Fighters (Matchless)
> Casey Anderson - Radios (A Wave Press)
> Marc Baron - Un Salon Au Fond d'Un Lac (Potlatch)
> Pascal Battus - Dafne Vicente-Sandoval - s/t (Potlatch)
> Olivia Block - Dissolution (Glistening Examples)
> Dante Boon - For Clarinet and Piano (Another Timbre)
> Anthony Burr/Anthony Pateras - The Long Exhale (Immediata)
> Lucio Capece - Awareness About (Another Timbre)
> Scott Cazan - Ingress (A Wave Press)
> D'Incise/Cristían Alvear - Appalachian Anatolia (Another Timbre)
> Angharad Davies/Rhodri Davies/Michael Duch/Lina Lapelyte/John Lely/John Tilbury - Goldsmiths (Another Timbre)
> Angharad Davies/Tisha Mukarji - Ffansïon (Another Timbre)
> Bryan Eubanks/Hong Chulki - Proper Motions (Celadon)
> Morgan Evans-Weiler - Endless Overtones in Relational Space (Suppedaneum)
> Morton Feldman/The Smith Quartet/John Tilbury - Music for Piano and Strings, Volume 3 (Matchless)
> Jürg Frey/Quotuor Bozzini - String Quartet No. 3/Unhöbare Zeit (Edition Wandelweiser)
> Jürg Frey/Cristían Alvear - Guitarist, Alone (Another Timbre/Cathnor)
> Jean-Luc Guionnet /Dedalus - Distances Ouïes Dites (Potlatch)
> Sarah Hennies/Cristían Alvear - Orienting Response (mappa)
> Illogical Harmonies - Volume (Another Timbre)
> A.F. Jones - Languor Yields (Rhizome.s)
> Beat Keller/Tom Johnson/Joseph Kudirka - String Trios (Edition Wandelweiser)
> Graham Lambkin - Community (ErstSolo)
> Lance Austin Olsen - Maps, Battle Hymns: The Vast Field of Liberation (Suppedaneum)
> Michael Pisaro/Cristían Alvear/d'Incise/Lo Wie/Angharad Davies/Manfred Werder - 3+3=3 (Melange Edition)
> Michael Pisaro/Radu Malfatti - Invisible Landscapes (Willow St. Recordings)
> Michael Pisaro/Reinier Van Houdt - The Earth and the Sky (ErstClass)
> Michael Pisaro/Christian Wolff - Looking around (Erstwhile)
> Matthew Revert/Vanessa Rossetto - Earnest Rubbish (Erstwhile)
> Keith Rowe/Martin Küchen - The Bakery (Mikroton)
> Marcus Schmickler/John Tilbury - Timekeepers (A-Musik)
> Linda Caitlin Smith - Dirt Road (Another Timbre)
> Linda Caitlin Smith/Eve Ehoyan - Thought and Desire (Maria de Alvear World Edition)
> Suidobashi Chamber Ensemble - s/t (Meenna)
> Marvin Tate/Joseph Clayton Mills - The Process (Every Contact Leaves a Trace)
> Toshiya Tsunoda - Somashikiba (edition.t)
> Taku Unami/Devin DiSanto - s/t (ErstLive)


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## Barelytenor

Michael42 said:


> Hi, new here but I'll make it up to you :lol:
> 
> I don't know a lot of living music but I found this on a Facebook page last night:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I think it's interesting to say the least, the composer has a unique conception of structure


I think it's interesting is to say the _most._ It just sounds like a lot of plinking and plucking. On the plus side, I did made it through a minute and a half of it. Which brings up a philosophical question: I wonder if folks who are, ahem, older like I am are less open to listening to 21st century music. After all, one could argue that we, on average, do have less time remaining to listen to "music." (Sorry for the quotes, that's snarky of me, even I get that. But there it is.) I decided the remaining six minutes of this piece were better served elsewhere.

I remember when I was younger, I used to adore listening to Cathy Berberian singing Luciano Berio. Darn, crossed that century boundary again. Partial recompense: I think Penderecki's Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima is a stunning piece. He's still alive, right?

:tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


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## Janspe

One piece that absolutely _pierces_ my heart is Gubaidulina's violin concerto from 2007, called _In tempus praesens._ I easily rank the piece among my favourite violin concertos of all time!


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## Blancrocher

Janspe said:


> One piece that absolutely _pierces_ my heart is Gubaidulina's violin concerto from 2007, called _In tempus praesens._ I easily rank the piece among my favourite violin concertos of all time!


Agreed!!!!--I can't get enough of that work.

Btw, I've recently been sampling a recording on Naxos that includes Fachwerk (2009) and Silenzio (1991), which I think I will be acquiring:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHSSZsKQk4RHFJed39b1Z_Be6xwMam-1u


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## tortkis

Neos has not been releasing albums for digital download until recently, but I found today that some recent recordings have become available at amazon download store and google play (cheaper). Still many albums are missing (Donaueschinger 2012~2014, Hába, etc.) but this is a good news to me. I downloaded Donaueschinger Musiktage 2015 and musica viva vol. 23 (Lachenmann).

Donaueschinger Musiktage 2015








Georg Friedrich Haas (*1953): Oktett für 8 Posaunen (2015)
Johannes Boris Borowski (*1979): Sérac for orchestra (2014 / 2015)
Stefan Prins (*1979): Mirror Box Extensions for ensemble, live electronics & live video (2014 / 2015)
Mark Andre (*1964): „über" for clarinet, orchestra and live electronics (2015)
Francesco Filidei (*1973): Killing Bach for orchestra (2015)
Yoav Pasovsky (*1980): Pulsus alternans for orchestra (2015)


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## Blancrocher

It's a general chamber music site, not specifically 21st-century oriented, but I like keeping an eye on Earsense:

http://earsense.org/

There are regular updates of new videos uploaded to Youtube (including really rare and some new stuff). You can search for composers by year, genre, etc. And it's got a handy list of composer anniversaries for those who want to make a composer-birthday post in Current Listening. Just another site to browse and maybe bookmark for anyone interested.


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## 20centrfuge

I so appreciate this thread. I think an ongoing discussion of today's music is so important. I believe music of this century is as different from the music of the 20th century as the 20th is different from the 19th century.

Here are some questions I propose for discussion:

1. When you are sifting through new music, what is it that you are hoping to hear? Of all that is being composed nowadays, musically speaking, what is it that is enjoyable to you?

2. What role do you feel melody has amongst contemporary composers?

3. What are your views about the integration of technology in the composition and the performance of new works?

4. Does contemporary music have problems connecting with audiences? Is that relevant? What do you feel can or should be done about that?


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## 20centrfuge

I see 21st century music as having branches. One branch of the current music tree is *COMPLEXITY *(Ades, Lindberg, Maxwell Davies, Carter, Ferneyhough, etc) . There is a lot of music being written now that is a lot to take in. It takes more work from the listener to come to terms with this music.

Another branch is* SIMPLICITY*. This seems like a reaction to the complexity trend. Some minimalism seems to fall into this category (Reich). Some of the recent choral music falls in here (I'm thinking of Wolfe's Anthracite Fields, for example)

I don't mean either of these labels as negative. I actually enjoy a lot of very complex music and a lot of relatively simpler music as well.

I hate to say it but I also feel there are a lot of *GIMMICKY* composers right now. I won't name names cuz I don't really want to fight about it, but I think some composers, in an effort to be different, resort to silly techniques.


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## 20centrfuge

Here are some of the works that have been written since Y2K that I have enjoyed:

Michel van der Aa: Up Close, Concerto for Cello, Orchestra, Film
Unsuk Chin: Violin Concerto
George Tstontakis: Violin Concerto, No. 2
Han Abrahamsen: Let Me Tell You
Poul Ruders: Symphony No. 4 (2008)
Tristan Murail: Winter Fragments
John Adams: My Father Knew Charles Ives
Gubaidulina: In Tempus Praesens
Dutilleaux: Correspondances


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## tortkis

20centrfuge said:


> I see 21st century music as having branches. One branch of the current music tree is *COMPLEXITY *(Ades, Lindberg, Maxwell Davies, Carter, Ferneyhough, etc) . There is a lot of music being written now that is a lot to take in. It takes more work from the listener to come to terms with this music.
> 
> Another branch is* SIMPLICITY*. This seems like a reaction to the complexity trend. Some minimalism seems to fall into this category (Reich). Some of the recent choral music falls in here (I'm thinking of Wolfe's Anthracite Fields, for example)
> 
> I don't mean either of these labels as negative. I actually enjoy a lot of very complex music and a lot of relatively simpler music as well.
> 
> I hate to say it but I also feel there are a lot of *GIMMICKY* composers right now. I won't name names cuz I don't really want to fight about it, but I think some composers, in an effort to be different, resort to silly techniques.


So-called complexity music sometimes sounds simple when it is monotonously complex.

There are not so many composers whose works are literally simple. I don't think the works of Reich and Wolfe are so simple. The only true simplicity composer I can think of might be Tom Johnson.

An aleatoric music or process music could be described in a simple instruction, but it does not mean that the result is necessarily simple. (piano phase, in C, Cage's etudes, ...)

La Monte Young said that his music may sound simple but it is actually very complex.

A piece of music that sounds simple in one aspect (for example, rhythmically static) might reveal the complexity of another aspect (harmony of subtle overtones, variety of timbre, gradual changes of multiple sound layers, ...)


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## 20centrfuge

Good points.

I'm thinking of complexity and simplicity in terms of the relative demands on the listener. Reich may be complex in terms of number of parts or performance demands but is easy to listen to compared with someone like Carter


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## Kjetil Heggelund

Was checking out winners of the Grawemeyer award. It's a winner


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## mmsbls

I just discovered Arlene Sierra.

Butterflies Remember a Mountain
Game of Attrition


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## Bluecrab

Barelytenor said:


> ...Which brings up a philosophical question: I wonder if folks who are, ahem, older like I am are less open to listening to 21st century music. After all, one could argue that we, on average, do have less time remaining to listen to "music."


In my case, certainly not. (I won't ask your age, but I'll volunteer mine: 63.) I listen to quite a bit of 21st-century music, including a fair amount that most would consider avant-garde. I also listen to lots of works from the 20th century all the way back to early music, and a bit of jazz and 60s-70s rock now and then (although I'm slowly but surely losing my taste for much of jazz, which is something I'm at a loss to explain).

By the way, I can certainly relate to your comment about "less remaining time."


----------



## mmsbls

Christophe Bertrand: Satka (2008) a sextet for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, and cello.

The layers in this work are fascinating. A short analysis of the work can be found here.

Bertrand's Sanh Trio for bass clarinet, cello and piano (2007) made the TC top Piano Trio list.


----------



## mmsbls

Another new (to me) composer: Arlene Sierra.

Surrounded Ground is a sextet for Clarinet, Piano, and String Quartet.

Piano Concerto - Art of War

These two works are related since the term surrounded ground comes from Sun Tzu's _The Art of War_. I read one review of the Piano Concerto that said she "makes ... absolutely no attempt whatsoever to make these works easy on the listener." Maybe, but I found the work both interesting and enjoyable on the first listen so that surprised me.

The whole concerto was wonderful, and the last movement of Surrounded Ground was pure fun.


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

I have linked to this before, and link to this again. Winner of the Grawemeyer award! I think it is an amazing sound-world


----------



## SONNET CLV

A great way to experience the newest in serious (classical) music, and jazz, too, is to visit the Donaueschingen Music Festival in Germany. This festival is hailed as the oldest festival for contemporary music, founded in 1921, and is held annually in October. This year's festival opens on Friday, October 20. Hope to see you there.

http://www.swr.de/swr-classic/donaueschinger-musiktage/-/id=17055662/1asto8u/

If you can't make it to the actual festival (I probably can't), you can do as I do: collect the recordings that catalogue the goings on. These are available from labels Col Legno and NEOS.

Presto Classical provides a page with a quite extensive catalog. Not everything is available, but there is certainly plenty there to sample:

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/s/Donaueschinger+Musiktage

I probably have every recording of the collection since its start and I have the wonderful multi-disc collection (12 CDs) _75 Jahre Donaueschinger Musiktage 1921-1996_, which is a great _intro_ to the music of the 21st century.









Take a look here for a listing of what is available in that set: http://ployvaultcat.blogspot.com/2013/10/donaueschinger-musiktage-75-jahre-12-cds.html

The latest edition in this series, a 2 SACD set of the recordings of the 2015 festival









features the following new music:

Georg Friedrich Haas (*1953)
[01] Oktett für 8 Posaunen (2015) 19:50

Johannes Boris Borowski (*1979)
[02] Sérac for orchestra (2014 / 2015) 24:55

Stefan Prins (*1979)
Mirror Box Extensions for ensemble, live electronics & live video (2014 / 2015) 32:42

Mark Andre (*1964)
[01] „über" for clarinet, orchestra and live electronics (2015) 38:10

Francesco Filidei (*1973)
[02] Killing Bach for orchestra (2015) 20:50

Yoav Pasovsky (*1980)
[03] Pulsus alternans for orchestra (2015) 12:12

If these composers and pieces sound unfamiliar, well that's half the joy of confronting Donaueschinger. Much to explore here.

The NEOS label itself provides some of the best access to what is currently happening in serious music. Take a look through the NEOS catalog and you'll soon be salivating over the host of new music works available for hearing. NEOS discs play an important role in my personal music collection which is heavy with "new music".

Of course, there are other labels out there specializing in new music recordings, and perhaps someone will create a post informing on the best of them. But for a starting look at what is happening in the 21st century in music, the Donaueschinger collection from Col Legno and NEOS offers an extraordinary sampler. Give it a listen!


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## mmsbls

Here are 3 works by Vivian Fung all found on the Naxos release.

Violin Concerto
Glimpses
Piano Concerto "Dreamscapes"









I enjoyed all, but the Piano Concerto is my favorite sounding remarkably varied throughout. The concerto starts with the piano strings directly plucked while Vietnamese bird whistles are blown scattered in the audience. It ends with the orchestra playing pitches on filled wine glasses while the piano plays lovely figures. In between the music ranges from pounding to fun to dreamlike.

Piano Concerto


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## Selby

Donnacha Dennehy
This recording is a personal favorite and a common recommendation I make for those looking for a good/soft entry into contemporary/C21 classical. Grá agus Bás has become a little better known, and for good reason, however, it is paired with the heartbreaking and tender That the Night Come. If you have not heard this song cycle performed by Dawn Upshaw, you owe it to yourself!


----------



## Nereffid

Came across this on Gramophone today - a bunch of articles on 21st-century composers:

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/21st-century-classical-discover-the-music-of-today


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## Albert7

One of my fav recent composers as of late: http://www.annathorvalds.com/


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## Selby

^Albert7, she looks very intriguing - do you have specific recommendations to start?


----------



## mmsbls

Albert7 said:


> One of my fav recent composers as of late: http://www.annathorvalds.com/


Good to see you back. I have heard several of Thorvaldsdottir's works - Aeriality, Dreaming, and Streaming Arhythmia. They're interesting. I'd like to eventually hear more of her work.


----------



## janxharris

Michael42 said:


> Hi, new here but I'll make it up to you :lol:
> 
> I don't know a lot of living music but I found this on a Facebook page last night:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I think it's interesting to say the least, the composer has a unique conception of structure


Please no............


----------



## PeterFromLA

Good thread idea.

Regarding composers active since 2000, and still living, my dozen or so favorites are Gyorgy Kurtag, Pascal Dusapin, Tristan Murail, Marc-Andre Dalbavie, Valentin Silvestrov, Pawel Szymanski, Hans Abrahamsen, Thomas Ades, Unsuk Chin, Julia Wolfe, Sofia Gubaidulina, Kaija Saariaho, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir. I also enjoy the music of Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Per Norgard, Harrison Birtwistle, John Adams, Magnus Lindberg, and John Zorn, but their more recent output doesn't interest me as much as the other composers I've named.


----------



## mmsbls

PeterFromLA said:


> Good thread idea.
> 
> Regarding composers active since 2000, and still living, my dozen or so favorites are Gyorgy Kurtag, Pascal Dusapin, Tristan Murail, Marc-Andre Dalbavie, Valentin Silvestrov, Pawel Szymanski, Hans Abrahamsen, Thomas Ades, Unsuk Chin, Julia Wolfe, Sofia Gubaidulina, Kaija Saariaho, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir. I also enjoy the music of Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Per Norgard, Harrison Birtwistle, John Adams, Magnus Lindberg, and John Zorn, but their more recent output doesn't interest me as much as the other composers I've named.


I've heard music from all those except Pawel Szymanski. Could you suggest a work or two?


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## Norma Skock

mmsbls said:


> I've heard music from all those except Pawel Szymanski. Could you suggest a work or two?


Check out his piano concerto, it's "interesting" to say the least.


----------



## PeterFromLA

mmsbls said:


> I've heard music from all those except Pawel Szymanski. Could you suggest a work or two?


Check out his Dwie etiudy (Two Etudes for piano) or his "A Kaleidoscope for M.C.E" (for violin solo) for starters. Here's the second etude:






Here's the piece for Mr. Escher:






I believe this is his first acknowledged work, "K" for orchestra (1972):


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## PeterFromLA

Two other composers whose work I'm always keen to listen to upon learning of a premiere performance or recording: Heiner Goebbels and Esa-Pekka Salonen.


----------



## Blancrocher

PeterFromLA said:


> Two other composers whose work I'm always keen to listen to upon learning of a premiere performance or recording: Heiner Goebbels and Esa-Pekka Salonen.


I'm a big fan of the latter-and will look into the former-as well. I thought I'd mention a couple recent Salonen works, since they aren't yet available in any of the usual places.

"Homunculus" is a very striking string quartet, played here by the Arnica Quartet: http://www.instantencore.com/contributor/music/works.aspx?CId=5016147

Instant Encore is a handy site, btw--it has a huge database of recent live performances. You can register and get updates about recent performances involving followed composers and performers.

I also really like his recent spooky, minimalist work "Dona nobis pacem" (which can be heard beginning around the 36-minute mark in the following clip): http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjU4NTk5MDA0.html

The work fits in nicely with the whole concert, which also features works by Messiaen and Ligeti.


----------



## Magnum Miserium

Part of me wonders whether later Steve Reich (& maybe even Philip Glass???) is like later Matisse and Picasso - we've got it so fixed in our heads that he's not as good as he used to be that we don't appreciate what he does. I mean, like everybody in the universe, I'm really liking John Luther Adams right now, but maybe one day people will be like "not bad, but they thought this was better than 2x5?"

On the other hand, to speak of a composer who's definitely "appreciated" right now, Abrahamsen has been mentioned - ugh, "Let Me Tell You" is the piece the 21st century _deserves_ (Victorians thought Ophelia's corpse was hot; we think she's a feminist).


----------



## Adam Weber

Saw this performed last January. Loved it.


----------



## mmsbls

Szymanski's _A Kaleidoscope for M.C.E_ was very enjoyable - fun rhythms. The Szymanski Piano Concerto was beautiful. Both are actually pre-21st century (which is fine of course) so I listened to In Paradisum for 12 Men's voices (2009). I enjoyed the other works more.


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## Selby

I would really like to invest some money into recordings of _new music_, 21st century music, preferably from composers who are young-_ish_ / up-and-coming. I really have enjoyed the work of Tabakova, Dennehy, Ferneyhough, Lang, Pateras, Norgard, Saariaho, Gubaidulina, Haas, Maxwell Davies, Norgard, Kurtag, Lachenmann; pretty much the big names, many of which are in their 70s, even 80s...

I really want to expand...

Could anyone offer me some recording recommendations?


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## schigolch

Well, not sure what you mean by "youngish".

What's about Rebecca Saunders, for instance, that is now 49 years old?.

This is a recent piece, "Void", premiered a couple of years ago:


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## mmsbls

Here's some music from Andrea Tarrodi, a fairly young Swedish composer.


Highlands - Cello Concerto (2013)
Miroirs string quartet no. 1 (2011)
Madárdal (String Quartet No. 2) (2013)

I especially enjoyed the second quartet.


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## Nereffid

Selby said:


> I would really like to invest some money into recordings of _new music_, 21st century music, preferably from composers who are young-_ish_ / up-and-coming. I really have enjoyed the work of Tabakova, Dennehy, Ferneyhough, Lang, Pateras, Norgard, Saariaho, Gubaidulina, Haas, Maxwell Davies, Norgard, Kurtag, Lachenmann; pretty much the big names, many of which are in their 70s, even 80s...
> 
> I really want to expand...
> 
> Could anyone offer me some recording recommendations?


Over the last couple of years as I've delved into new music I've found a bunch of labels to be worth my while checking out: Cantaloupe, Sono Luminus, New Amsterdam, New Focus. In as much as your list of composers is a spectrum, I'm on the Lang/Dennehy end of it.
Some younger composers I've been particularly enjoying what I've heard of them so far: Kate Moore (b 1979), Christopher Cerrone (b 1984), Caroline Shaw (b 1982), Mason Bates (b 1977), Timo Andres (b 1985), Anna Thorvaldsdottir (b 1977), Mohammed Fairouz (b 1985), Peter Adriaansz (b 1966)... good grief, all but Adriaansz are quite a bit younger than me, I feel old now...


----------



## Trout

Here are some young-ish guys and gals I'd recommend along with a favorite recording or two:

Dai Fujikura (1977-):
Secret Forest (2008) [YT]
Sparking Orbit (2013) [YT]

Michael Hersch (1971-):
The Vanishing Pavilions (2005) [YT]

Olga Neuwirth (196:
Lost Highway (2003) [YT]
...miramondo multiplo... (2006-7) [YT]

Andrew Norman (1979-):
The Companion Guide to Rome (2010) [YT]
Play (2013) [YT]

Tarik O'Regan (197:
The Ecstasies Above (2006) [YT]

Matthias Pintscher (1971-):
en sourdine (2003) [YT]
Reflections on Narcissus (2005) [YT] -- on same recording as above

Yann Robin (1974-):
Vulcano (2010) [YT]

Caroline Shaw (1982-):
Partita for 8 Voices (2012) [YT]

Simon Steen-Andersen (1976-):
Double Up (2010) [YT]

Jörg Widmann (1973-):
Violin Concerto (2007) [YT]


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## Selby

mmsbls said:


> Here's some music from Andrea Tarrodi, a fairly young Swedish composer.
> 
> 
> Highlands - Cello Concerto (2013)
> Miroirs string quartet no. 1 (2011)
> Madárdal (String Quartet No. 2) (2013)
> 
> I especially enjoyed the second quartet.


I listened to all three of these. I found them intelligent, original, engaging, and gorgeous. Exactly the kind of 'new' voice I have been seeking! I actually listened to them streaming in my headphones as I hiked up a mountain. The summit of the mountain coincided perfectly woth the theme from the second quarter. It was a fantastic experience. To bad they aren't available on CD in the US :/

Thank you for the recommendation!


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## Selby

Trout said:


> Here are some young-ish guys and gals I'd recommend along with a favorite recording or two:


What a fantastic reply to my request! I appreciate you taking the time!

So far I have found myself smitten with the Dai Fujikura pieces. I had only encountered one prior to this: Glacier (2010) for solo bass flute on Claire Chase' fantastic album Terrestre:










I think I will be purchasing Ice:










The Michael Hersche pieces are also very engaging and I plan to dedicate some time to listening to The Vanishing Pavillions in full. Massive, years-in-making solo piano composition? Yes please.

That piece by Caroline Shaw introduced me to Roomful of Teeth, and 8 person modern a capella group, all classically trained. I'm not sure this is music I want to listen to repeatedly, but, I had tons of fun watching these live videos of them:
Caroline Shaw's Partita: 



for NPR's Tiny Concert series: 




Thanks again for the resources!


----------



## ido66667

Selby said:


> What a fantastic reply to my request! I appreciate you taking the time!
> 
> So far I have found myself smitten with the Dai Fujikura pieces. I had only encountered one prior to this: Glacier (2010) for solo bass flute on Claire Chase' fantastic album Terrestre:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I think I will be purchasing Ice:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Michael Hersche pieces are also very engaging and I plan to dedicate some time to listening to The Vanishing Pavillions in full. Massive, years-in-making solo piano composition? Yes please.
> 
> That piece by Caroline Shaw introduced me to Roomful of Teeth, and 8 person modern a capella group, all classically trained. I'm not sure this is music I want to listen to repeatedly, but, I had tons of fun watching these live videos of them:
> Caroline Shaw's Partita:
> 
> 
> 
> for NPR's Tiny Concert series:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks again for the resources!


The partita is intriguing and beautiful, especially with the Overtone singing. But they sometimes sounds a bit like a bunch rabid dogs frothing at the mouth while panting and groaning, or maybe more like a morbidly obese truck driver and his no less obese wife in their late 50's during a passionate and sweaty act of fornication while reaching that sweet climex, I'm afraid... Okay, I may have taken that description too far... Jokes aside, It's a great piece. It elicits a feeling of catharsis in me, for some reason.


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## Klassik

Here's my contribution for those who want to see more modern/lesser known music discussed on this forum. I find some of the music composed in the 21st century by Roberto Sierra to be quite enjoyable. I don't think his style will appeal to everyone, but those of us who live in cities with a strong Hispanic culture may have an affinity for his musical flavor.

Selected sampling:

Sinfonía No. 4 - 



Sinfonía No. 3 - 



Fandangos -


----------



## Art Rock

Joep Franssens - Harmony of the Spheres: cycle in five movements for mixed choir and string orchestra (2001)

YouTube.

Pärt meets Silvestrov.


----------



## Oldhoosierdude

I will be looking into some of the suggestions. I don't want to be one of those who think only the old is good.


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

Marlos Nobre is one of my favorite composers. His music might be a bit oldfashioned, but it's energetic and exotic. I especially like his guitarmusic  Here is a recent orchestra performance from last years Proms.


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## Selby

Klassik said:


> Here's my contribution for those who want to see more modern/lesser known music discussed on this forum. I find some of the music composed in the 21st century by Roberto Sierra to be quite enjoyable. I don't think his style will appeal to everyone, but those of us who live in cities with a strong Hispanic culture may have an affinity for his musical flavor.
> 
> Selected sampling:
> 
> Sinfonía No. 4 -
> 
> 
> 
> Sinfonía No. 3 -
> 
> 
> 
> Fandangos -


What beautiful works! These would be great pieces for someone looking for more traditional classical idioms (sonata form, clear themes, lush melodies). I'm loving how he consistently incorporates a Caribbean accents into the works.

Interesting, I just read that he studied under György Liget.


----------



## Simon Moon

I think these are fantastic pieces by young Thai composer, Narong Prangcharoen!


----------



## Klassik

Selby said:


> What beautiful works! These would be great pieces for someone looking for more traditional classical idioms (sonata form, clear themes, lush melodies). I'm loving how he consistently incorporates a Caribbean accents into the works.
> 
> Interesting, I just read that he studied under György Liget.


Agreed, that was my opinion as well. Roberto Sierra is a throwback with a fresh sound. He also has some harpsichord music. It wasn't written in the 21st century, but here's a sample:

Con Salsa -


----------



## tortkis

Adam Weber said:


> Saw this performed last January. Loved it.


I love Karmanov's music. I have Innerlichkeit (including The City I Love and Hate) and other 2 albums on Fancy Music. Re-Music contains uplifting minimal music and melodic, sentimental works.

https://fancymusic.bandcamp.com/album/re-music









Fancy Music has been releasing good contemporary Russian music, mostly quite beautiful and accessible. Their catalogue includes an album by one of my favorite composers, Sergey Akhnov (Sketches). The digital albums are of high quality and inexpensive. ($2 for FLAC/ALAC/WAV/etc.)


----------



## 5against4

tortkis said:


> Neos has not been releasing albums for digital download until recently, but I found today that some recent recordings have become available at amazon download store and google play (cheaper). Still many albums are missing (Donaueschinger 2012~2014, Hába, etc.) but this is a good news to me. I downloaded Donaueschinger Musiktage 2015 and musica viva vol. 23 (Lachenmann).


A belated reply: many of the NEOS Donauschinger albums are available in lossless format courtesy of Qobuz - they're easily the best place these days for lossless avant-garde music.

http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/search?s=rdc&q=Donaueschinger+Musiktage&i=boutique


----------



## tortkis

5against4 said:


> A belated reply: many of the NEOS Donauschinger albums are available in lossless format courtesy of Qobuz - they're easily the best place these days for lossless avant-garde music.
> 
> http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/search?s=rdc&q=Donaueschinger+Musiktage&i=boutique


Thank you, but unfortunately, Qobuz is not available in USA. I am seeing more and more Neos digital downloads becoming available at Amazon, Google, and emusic.

If you are the owner of 5against4.com, I would like to thank you for providing a great source of new music. I recently listened to Skempton's gorgeous piano concerto.


----------



## 5against4

tortkis said:


> Thank you, but unfortunately, Qobuz is not available in USA. I am seeing more and more Neos digital downloads becoming available at Amazon, Google, and emusic.
> 
> If you are the owner of 5against4.com, I would like to thank you for providing a great source of new music. I recently listened to Skempton's gorgeous piano concerto.


Ah, sorry, i had no idea Qobuz wasn't available in the US - that's a real shame, as it's still very hard to find places to buy contemporary music in lossless format.

And yes, _5:4_ and i are indeed one and the same; thanks for the kind words


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## Bettina

I read that Daniil Trifonov has recently composed a piano concerto. If any of you have heard it, I'd be interested in hearing your opinion of it. Also, has it been recorded yet? I love Trifonov's interpretation of the Liszt Transcendental Etudes and I'm curious to hear what his own compositions sound like!


----------



## mmsbls

I just heard Ryan Francis's Piano Concerto on WQXR Q2. Here's a link to the concerto. After listening on Q2 I listened again through the youtube link. I found much of it intoxicating.

Anyone heard other Francis works?


----------



## Pugg

Bettina said:


> I read that Daniil Trifonov has recently composed a piano concerto. If any of you have heard it, I'd be interested in hearing your opinion of it. Also, has it been recorded yet? I love Trifonov's interpretation of the Liszt Transcendental Etudes and I'm curious to hear what his own compositions sound like!


I search each day for that, alas no success so far, I keep on looking.


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## Pat Fairlea

I'm really enjoying this thread but I have a pedantic problem with the premise that there can be 21st century 'classical' music when we're only 17 years in. Is it too early to tell which works will have staying power and so become 'classics'? We could make predictions (Eotvos? Denehy?) but the last 2-300 years show how reliable that is. 
I certainly don't mean to dismiss 21st century instrumental music, there is some fascinating music being written. I just question whether any of it can be classed as 'classic' yet.


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_music
We're talking classical, not classics  Maybe a topic on our predictions of classics of the future is a good idea?


----------



## Ingélou

Pat Fairlea said:


> I'm really enjoying this thread but I have a pedantic problem with the premise that there can be 21st century 'classical' music when we're only 17 years in. Is it too early to tell which works will have staying power and so become 'classics'? We could make predictions (Eotvos? Denehy?) but the last 2-300 years show how reliable that is.
> I certainly don't mean to dismiss 21st century instrumental music, there is some fascinating music being written. I just question whether any of it can be classed as 'classic' yet.


'Classical music' is just the name for the type of music that we're interested in on here, but I agree that it's an unsatisfactory term because of its association with 'classic' and also its use for particular composing styles such as Mozart's. There wouldn't be the problem if we adopted the term 'art music'.

It is, of course, too soon to tell which 21st century pieces of art music will survive to be cherished in the future - but that's part of the fun, surely?


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese

Pat Fairlea said:


> I'm really enjoying this thread but I have a pedantic problem with the premise that there can be 21st century 'classical' music when we're only 17 years in. Is it too early to tell which works will have staying power and so become 'classics'? We could make predictions (Eotvos? Denehy?) but the last 2-300 years show how reliable that is.
> I certainly don't mean to dismiss 21st century instrumental music, there is some fascinating music being written. I just question whether any of it can be classed as 'classic' yet.


Disagree, as this is a flawed premise, good music will always be good music, When Beethoven/ Holst or anyone of note first performed a major work -no period of time, 50 years or whatever had to pass before it was appreciated and recognised as a significant piece of music and the same goes for modern classical music.......................


----------



## MonagFam

Simon Moon said:


> I think these are fantastic pieces by young Thai composer, Narong Prangcharoen!


I like these works! Thanks for sharing.


----------



## Pat Fairlea

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Disagree, as this is a flawed premise, good music will always be good music, When Beethoven/ Holst or anyone of note first performed a major work -no period of time, 50 years or whatever had to pass before it was appreciated and recognised as a significant piece of music and the same goes for modern classical music.......................


UP to a point.....
Remember Zhou Enlai (1898-1976), 1st Premier of Peoples' Republic of China? When asked what he thought was the most important thing about the French Revolution, he is said to have replied "It is too soon to tell".


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## Sloe

Pat Fairlea said:


> UP to a point.....
> Remember Zhou Enlai (1898-1976), 1st Premier of Peoples' Republic of China? When asked what he thought was the most important thing about the French Revolution, he is said to have replied "It is too soon to tell".


It was about the events in France in may 1968.


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## Smikkelbeer

Ludovico Einaudi makes good Modern-Classical music


----------



## Sloe

I find The Discovery of Heaven for orchestra by Julian Anderson recently and really enjoyed it:


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## Woodduck

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Disagree, as this is a flawed premise, good music will always be good music, When Beethoven/ Holst or anyone of note first performed a major work -no period of time, 50 years or whatever had to pass before it was appreciated and recognised as a significant piece of music and the same goes for modern classical music.......................


Plenty of music now considered "classic" was at least enjoyed pretty quickly, and much of it was recognized as being of high quality. Some notorious failed premieres shouldn't mislead us; there can be a variety of reasons for these initial failures - political intrigues, poor performances, etc. - and a lackluster premiere (Carmen) or even a debacle (The Rite of Spring) may be followed within a few more performances by enormous success. Some works were lambasted by conservative critics while the public received them with enthusiasm; others were appreciated by perceptive critics but took longer to reach a general audience. Very little significant music, if it's now become part of the repertoire, has taken 50 years to do it, and if it has it may be because there's simply been a lot more music coming along to claim people's attention.

In our "museum culture," where we have access to the whole history of music in performance and on recordings, the contemporary composer asking for our attention is up against competition spanning the centuries, and his potential audience has become more and more fragmented and diverse in its enthusiasms. That makes it hard to make comparisons with earlier times and to draw conclusions about the ultimate fate of music being written now.


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## Selby

Oh dear, what have I done? I have a sincere fear that referencing this thread as a healthy place to discuss new music has invited controversies from other threads. Is it possible that this thread remain a place where we discuss new works of music and not a place to debate semantics or definitions?

I agree with the OP's mission:



"Hi Everyone, 

This is a thread for the discussion of 21st century music. It's just a place to mention all sorts of news, including recent compositions, composers and works you've discovered, intriguing genres, new instruments, award announcements, album releases, premieres, favorite new music blogs, etc. Youtube clips and article links are great if you've got them. 

There are similar threads on the board: some focus on particular genres, and most of them ask for favorites. Feel free to link to interesting posts on other threads. I hope this one will be a casual and easy-going thread that can gather information and ideas that don't fit very well elsewhere. 

A word about etiquette: this is emphatically not a debate thread. If anyone posts music you dislike or inflammatory polemics, please do not engage with them (if something is way over the line, report it). It would be nice if there were no negativity at all. I'd like it if people felt comfortable mentioning 21st-century music of any style. "


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

I've had a "productive" evening when it comes to new music. NEOS Music has been mentioned here and they are on spotify. Heard a great guitar quartet by Georg Friedrich Haas on that label and also Piano Concerto no. 2 by Hermann Keller. There really is way too much to explore


----------



## Woodduck

Trouble is, people don't always read the OP before seeing something interesting in a thread and responding to it.

It's good to have a border collie keeping an eye on the stray sheep and rounding them up.


----------



## Selby

Woodduck said:


> Trouble is, people don't always read the OP before seeing something interesting in a thread and responding to it.
> 
> It's good to have a border collie keeping an eye on the stray sheep and rounding them up.


_Ruff-ruff. _ The intention of this thread is to discuss new music. *205* pieces of 21st century music have been mentioned. The thread is about new music, if a poster is not discussing new music, they have other intentions.

today's obsession:
György Kurtág
6 Moments musicaux, Op. 44 (2005) for string quartet





In love with this recent survey from Quatuor Molinari


----------



## arpeggio

Selby said:


> Oh dear, what have I done? I have a sincere fear that referencing this thread as a healthy place to discuss new music has invited controversies from other threads. Is it possible that this thread remain a place where we discuss new works of music and not a place to debate semantics or definitions?


In another thread there has been a proposal to create a separate forum for contemporary, modern, whatever music. The point you raised is one of the reasons it will not work. They tried this in another forum and for a variety of reasons it failed.


----------



## Guest

It sadly did...


----------



## schigolch

I'm a follower of the work of Swiss composer Michael Jarrell since quite a long time. This recent piece: "Emergences-Résurgences", sounds like an instant classic to me.






The author himself comments briefly about his music here: http://www.michaeljarrell.com/en/oeuvres-fiche.php?cotage=29279


----------



## Blancrocher

I'm quite taken with Gubaidulina's recent Triple Concerto (2016):


----------



## tortkis

mmsbls said:


> I just heard Ryan Francis's Piano Concerto on WQXR Q2. Here's a link to the concerto. After listening on Q2 I listened again through the youtube link. I found much of it intoxicating.
> 
> Anyone heard other Francis works?


Thanks for this post. Very interesting and attractive. I purchased his piano works album played by Vicky Chow. Nice mixture of catchy sweetness and convulsive complexity.









Etudes for Piano (2007-2008)
Consolations (2004)
Wind-Up Bird Preludes (2005)
Moonlight Fantasy (2001)

This can be listened to at soundcloud.

__
https://soundcloud.com/vicky-chow%2Fsets


----------



## Selby

^ I have the above recording. It is worthwhile. I really like pianist Vicky Chow - she is worth following if you are interested in new piano music. She also recorded Tristan Perich's Surface Image form 2014.


----------



## brianvds

I'll put in a shameless plug for my fellow South Africans, who mostly labour in virtual complete obscurity (it is almost impossible for classical musicians to make a living in this country, and all the best ones seem to end up emigrating.)

Here's a recorder concerto by Hendrik Hofmeyr:











He also wrote two other great concertos (one for flute and one for piano) but they don't seem to be online at the moment. Perhaps I should simply upload them myself.

Here's a piece by Peter Klatzow, titled "Three Paintings by Irma Stern" (Stern was one of our greatest 20th century painters):






And one by Kevin Volans, though I think it actually dates from before the 21st century. It is quite lovely though. Note that the harpsichords are not out of tune; they are tuned to an African scale to imitate the sound of the mbira:


----------



## tortkis

Selby said:


> ^ I have the above recording. It is worthwhile. I really like pianist Vicky Chow - she is worth following if you are interested in new piano music. She also recorded Tristan Perich's Surface Image form 2014.


Vicky Chow has been releasing interesting recordings. I like her playing with Bang on a Can All-Stars, too. I haven't heard that album yet but it has been in my wish-list for a while.

Tristan Perich's pure electronic pieces sounded a bit too harsh to me, but I enjoyed his works with instruments very much. These are very fine, precise minimal music.

Parallels (2013) for tuned triangles, hi-hats and 4-channel 1-bit electronics
Dual Synthesis (2009) for harpsichord and 4-channel 1-bit electronics
Telescope (2007) for two bass clarinets, two baritone saxophones, 4-channel 1-bit electronics


----------



## Nereffid

Oooh, speaking of Vicky Chow, watch this!


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

So I've been exploring new music a lot lately. Nobody seems to have mentioned Wergo record label. They specialize in contemporary music. I searched label:wergo on spotify, voila!


----------



## Omicron9

What a &#*(^#@ cool thread!


----------



## Selby

Omicron9 said:


> What a &#*(^#@ cool thread!


Any recommendations to add Omicron9? 
In my best Frasier Crane interpretation:

"I'm listening."


----------



## Omicron9

Selby said:


> Any recommendations to add Omicron9?
> In my best Frasier Crane interpretation:
> 
> "I'm listening."


Sure.... the first name that comes to mind is Thomas Ades.


----------



## Blancrocher

Omicron9 said:


> Sure.... the first name that comes to mind is Thomas Ades.


Interesting composer--btw, I like his string quartet, "The Four Quarters," which was released last year:


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

http://https://vickychow.bandcamp.com/album/michael-gordon-sonatra
Just got a link to this since I subscribe to Cantaloupe Music. It's over 15 minutes of intense arpeggio-frenzy."It's by far the most challenging piece of music I've worked on," she says (Vicky Chow)


----------



## Magnum Miserium

Chow's live performance here of Steve Reich/Vincent Corver's "Piano Counterpoint" gives me some hope that minimalist music really can benefit from repeated performances, and the personality of particular performers, after the original record has been made:


----------



## mmsbls

Omicron9 said:


> Sure.... the first name that comes to mind is Thomas Ades.


Ades is one of my favorite contemporary composers. Some of his works have been mentioned but a few others I really enjoy from the 21st century are:

Violin Concerto
Piano Quintet
In Seven Days


----------



## Omicron9

Also Weinberg. Big fan of his.


----------



## Casebearer

I've recently visited the world premiere of a new piece by Andries van Rossem (Dutch composer), his concert for piano and chamber orchestra played by Ralph van Raat and the Gelders Symphony Orchestra. Very interesting piece partly inspired by Schönbergs looking for new harmonies and Stravinsky's rhythmic language.


----------



## tortkis

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> http://https://vickychow.bandcamp.com/album/michael-gordon-sonatra
> Just got a link to this since I subscribe to Cantaloupe Music. It's over 15 minutes of intense arpeggio-frenzy."It's by far the most challenging piece of music I've worked on," she says (Vicky Chow)


That sounds very interesting. I am looking forward to hearing the just intonation version.

Another new release from Cantaloupe Music. (May 12, 2017)
John Luther Adams: Canticles of the Holy Wind (2013) - The Crossing








https://johnlutheradams.bandcamp.com/album/canticles-of-the-holy-wind-2


----------



## Selby

Dublin's Crash Ensemble (Alan Pierson, director) is gearing up for a new promising release!
The US release date is June 23rd and available for pre-order!

For those unfamiliar, the ensemble was co-created with composer Donnacha Dennehy and specialize in playing new music. The new album features a work by Nico Muhly, a new work by Donnacha Dennehy, and two works by Icelandic composer Valgeir Sigurðsson, including the title track.

For me, this is a release with a popular artist I don't know well (Muhly), an artist I adore (Dennehy), and an artist I've never heard of (Sigurðsson) - the perfect concoction!

If you are interested in new music consider pre-ordering this. I know endorsements can feel tacky but our currencies speak and paying for new music is the best way to ensure new music continues to be recorded. Cheers.










https://bedroomcommunity.bandcamp.com/album/crash-ensemble-ghosts
From the above link:

1. Drones, Variations, Ornaments 
2. Ghosts 
3. Past Tundra 
4. As An Nos

about

The Crash Ensemble has already cemented its place at the center of Irish contemporary music in the early 21st century. Ghosts simply confirms the band's importance. The playing is confident and incisive - as it would have to be to negotiate these four works, each of which provides both rhythmic and textural challenges. Nico Muhly's "Drones, Variations, Ornaments" unfolds gradually, accumulating restless energy until it sails along on the kinetic rhythms of American postminimalism. A striking coda reveals the chamber orchestra lurking beneath the brash new music ensemble.

Icelandic composer/producer Valgeir Sigurðsson also offers two ways of looking at the ensemble. The title track, Ghosts, features a dark, moody texture that reflects Sigurðsson's interest in electroacoustic sounds. Past Tundra is such a marvel of steady, pulsing, but cleverly syncopated rhythm that it may be easy to miss the poignant harmonies that characterize most of the work until its buoyant finale.

Unsurprisingly, Donnacha Dennehy, a co-founder of the ensemble, revels in the "classic" Crash sound in his piece As An Nos, with its layering of rhythmic cells, its instruments echoing or moving in hocket with each other, and its fabric of tightly woven musical threads. Dennehy offers a kaleidoscopic range of instrumental colors from one moment to the next in the work's tremulous middle section, but the piece gradually asserts itself and becomes an insistent, chattering conversation of rhythms. As An Nos (and the record as a whole) presents a real challenge to both band and conductor, but in the best "never let them see you sweat" tradition, Crash pull it off with a bravura finish.

releases June 23, 2017


----------



## Selby

US release date June 23, 2017

This new release looks so fantastic! There is a lot of 20th century music included in the set but three of Kurtág's more recent pieces are included: Songs to Poems by Anna Akhmatova (1997-2008), Colind -Balad (2010), and Brefs Messages (2011).










https://www.amazon.com/Kurtag-Compl...&qid=1493922636&sr=8-1&keywords=kurtag+choir&


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

https://www.theguardian.com/music/series/a-guide-to-contemporary-classical-music
I've looked at these small articles of major contemporary composers several times before and of course LISTENED to the music. Someone here mentioned it before. Just to bump a thread


----------



## mmsbls

I've heard music by almost everyone on the Guardian list, but I've been slowly working my way through the list listening to the suggested works (if I haven't heard them) for each composer. There's so much music to hear it's daunting (or wonderful).


----------



## Bradius

I don't know all that much about late 20th Century music, much less 21st. However, I am interested. What a great thread idea. Thanks!


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

A composer that I just "discovered" is Jonathan Harvey. He passed away 5 years ago. There are 24 albums on spotify  I listened to Timepieces and string quartets for 3 days. Recommended listening!


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

Christian Marclay here. Grafitti Composition 1-6. The musicians here are probably more "improvisers" than "classical". Got my big hero, Vernon Reid, on guitar. Anyways, it's MODERN, just like grafitti with sound


----------



## Tchaikov6

I don't know if there have been any mentions of Michael Daugherty, but I really enjoy some of his music, especially _Tales of Hemingway._


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

https://www.youtube.com/user/fiveagainstfour/playlists
Looky here! Playlists from Proms premieres from 5against4. Isn't he a member here?


----------



## 20centrfuge

I've been exploring, little by little, the music of composer James MacMillan. His Symphony No.4 and his cantata "Seven Last Words" -- I think he is a very interesting and soulful composer. He seems to have a lot of popularity in the UK. Not sure how he is perceived generally in other places.


----------



## Melvin

I love this thread! Great thread!
I heard a good one at the DSO last year. A Cello Concerto by Augusta Read Thomas called 'Rise of the Phoenix'. But I only got to hear it that one time, because I couldn't find a recording anywhere, not even on youtube. That's what's too bad about contemporary classical! But it's a good excuse to start buying more CDs and supporting the publishing industry!

Oh and I like Mathew Taylor! well, it looks like he had a lot of output in the 90's (But I kind of think that can be counted with 21st century)

Looks like its time to start buying up some new CDs. (great recommendations on this thread)


----------



## Art Rock

Melvin said:


> I heard a good one at the DSO last year. A Cello Concerto by Augusta Read Thomas called 'Rise of the Phoenix'. But I only got to hear it that one time, because I couldn't find a recording anywhere, not even on youtube. )


Video link for those interested.....


----------



## 20centrfuge

21st century composers, I believe are writing more for smaller ensembles than previous generations. Full size orchestral compositions are still being written but music for *chamber orchestr*a is getting a bigger share than before.


----------



## 20centrfuge

I am curious if there would be any interest from all of you for a *21st century listening chain.* Here is a quick intro into the concept. Please let me know what you think:

One person adds a youtube link (or other link) to a short piece of music, or movement of a longer work,
The next person must listen to that piece of music before adding their own link to a different piece of music.
The next person must listen to both works prior to adding their new entry, etc, etc....

With each person the chain of links grows. The wonderful thing about it though, is that *all participants share the common experience of having listened to EVERY work on the thread. The idea is that this would lead to some more interesting discussion, as well as expanding each person's listening repertoire.*

We could make a cap on the length of any entry at 20-30 minutes so as not to overwhelm any participant. We could also say that as the list grows really long, each person only needs to know the 5 pieces of music prior to their new entry.

I'd love to have this get going with new music, but it would require some other people being interested besides me. Any interest from any of you?


----------



## Omicron9

20centrfuge said:


> I am curious if there would be any interest from all of you for a *21st century listening chain.* Here is a quick intro into the concept. Please let me know what you think:
> 
> One person adds a youtube link (or other link) to a short piece of music, or movement of a longer work,
> The next person must listen to that piece of music before adding their own link to a different piece of music.
> The next person must listen to both works prior to adding their new entry, etc, etc....
> 
> With each person the chain of links grows. The wonderful thing about it though, is that *all participants share the common experience of having listened to EVERY work on the thread. The idea is that this would lead to some more interesting discussion, as well as expanding each person's listening repertoire.*
> 
> We could make a cap on the length of any entry at 20-30 minutes so as not to overwhelm any participant. We could also say that as the list grows really long, each person only needs to know the 5-10 pieces of music prior to their new entry.
> 
> I'd love to have this get going with new music, but it would require some other people being interested besides me. Any interest from any of you?


I'm in. Absolutely.


----------



## Selby

I would be interested and excited to offer a selection!


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

I'm interested too, but I'm not sure I'm willing to listen to ca. 5 pieces that are 20-30 minutes long that I haven't found myself...oops


----------



## 20centrfuge

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> I'm interested too, but I'm not sure I'm willing to listen to ca. 5 pieces that are 20-30 minutes long that I haven't found myself...oops


That amount of listening (to works you didn't pick) would be the price of admission!


----------



## Barbebleu

Barelytenor said:


> I cry your pardon.


I cry your pardon?  Hile, Gunslinger. Long days and pleasant nights, thankee Sai.


----------



## millionrainbows

Yes, it's a good idea to open a thread devoted to 21st century music, without the perennial debates on "atonality," "meaning of art," "4:33," "greatness of the past/Wagner vs. modernism," "Music I hate," "nobody better tell me how to listen," etc.


----------



## Trout

20centrfuge said:


> Any interest from any of you?


I'd love to participate and expand my growing 21st-century knowledge.


----------



## philoctetes

Sounds good to me


----------



## mmsbls

20centrfuge said:


> Any interest from any of you?


I'd definitely be interested.


----------



## Selby

Should this be a new thread or would it be best to occur within this one?


----------



## mmsbls

I'd suggest a separate thread because the two threads are quite different


----------



## 20centrfuge

I just launched it. Thanks everybody. Let the fun begin!!!!!!

http://www.talkclassical.com/49825-21st-century-listening-chain.html#post1259570


----------



## PeterFromLA

I've been listening to Dusapin's 2012 Violin Concerto, "Aufgang," a three movement work that is enthralling: it soars and floats, rumbles and groans, sings and wails... it's really quite wonderful. It's included on an Erato CD along with recent violin concerti by Rihm and Mantovani. The entire program is fascinating, and the Rihm is required listening as well.


----------



## Blancrocher

Hi Everyone,

Here's a quick digest of all the websites/links that appear throughout the thread, excluding mentions of individual artists and albums, in case anyone wants to update their bookmarks. Thanks for all the great participation in this thread so far.

Blogs, websites, etc.:

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st-c...lassical_music
Alex Ross: http://www.therestisnoise.com/2006/0...sic_links.html
Tom Service: https://www.theguardian.com/music/se...lassical-music
Sikorski: http://www.sikorski.de/2/en/news.html
Bachtrack: https://bachtrack.com/article-bacht...l&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Living Composers Project: http://www.composers21.com/
Sequenza 21: http://www.sequenza21.com/
5:4: http://5against4.com/
Donaueschingen Music Festival: https://www.swr.de/swr2/donaueschingen
Just Outside: http://olewnick.blogspot.com/
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN: https://www.icareifyoulisten.com/
Second Inversion: http://secondinversion.org/
Gramophone's "Discover the Music of Today": https://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/21st-century-classical-discover-the-music-of-today

Online Radio:

WQXR Q2: http://www.wqxr.org/articles/q2-music/
Counterstream Radio: https://www.newmusicusa.org/counterstream-radio/

Youtube:

5against4 playlists: https://www.youtube.com/user/fiveagainstfour/playlists
Wellesz Theatre: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDQ3HbQlR768JjHJ8CIhtRw

Music Labels (currently just NEOS):

NEOS: https://neos-music.com/
List of albums: http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/s/Donaueschinger+Musiktage
Qobuz (for albums in lossless format): http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/search?s=rdc&q=Donaueschinger+Musiktage&i=boutique

TC threads:

schigolch's contemporary opera thread: http://www.talkclassical.com/16411-c...ary-opera.html
21st century listening chain: http://www.talkclassical.com/49825-21st-century-listening-chain.html#post1259570
"New Generations": http://www.talkclassical.com/31712-new-generations.html


----------



## Blancrocher

In addition to the Youtube pages mentioned above, here are a couple of my favorites, both of which update regularly:

belanna000: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIfIMnhUfLBTZnheAF7Osrg
Tim Poulus: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQBtALJywdsAZ0N6_4zbJgw


----------



## Selby

Music labels that you will find C21 recordings:

*NEOS*
Germany: https://neos-music.com/
(Aho, Kurtág, GF Haas, Donaueschingen Music Festival recordings, more)

*AEON* 
(an imprint of Outhere Music - Alpha is also a part of this family)
Belgium: https://www.outhere-music.com/en/about/us
(Arditti Quartet, Rihm, Pauset, Murail, more)

*KAIROS*
Austria: https://www.kairos-music.com/
(Furrer, Neuwirth, Sciarrino, Chin, Manoury, more)

*Cantaloupe Music*
USA: http://cantaloupemusic.com/
(Bang on a Can All-Stars, David Lang, John Luther Adams, Julia Wolfe, more)

*col legno*
Australia: https://www.col-legno.com/en/distribution
(Pärt, Globokar, and a lot of great C20 music)

*20/21*
'Music of Our Time'
(a series from Deutsche Grammophon)
Germany: http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/series/prod_series
(Eötvös, Boulez, Chin, Harbison, Birtwistle, Knussen, more)

*ECM New Series*
'Edition of Contemporary Music'
Germany: https://www.ecmrecords.com/catalogue
(Tabakova, Kurtág, Pärt, Monk, Auerbach, Nørgård, more)

*NMC Recordings*
'The home of new music from the British Isles'
England: https://www.nmcrec.co.uk/
(Crash Ensemble, Dennehy, Muhy, more)

*Edition Wandelweiser Records*
Germany: http://www.wandelweiser.de/
(Frey, Houben, more)

*OgreOgress*
'Important Music. Finally Available'
USA: http://ogreogress.com/
(Glass, Cage, Monk, Hovhaness)

*Ondine*
Finland: https://www.ondine.net/
(Saariaho, Aho, Rautavaara, more)

*Decapo Records*
Denmark: http://www.dacapo-records.dk/en/
(Nørgård, Hind, more)

*Odradek Records*
USA: http://www.odradek-records.com/
(Unsuk Chin, more)

*ATMA Classique*
Canada: https://www.atmaclassique.com/fr/default.aspx
(Schafer, Kurtág, Guaidulina, Quatuor Molinari, more)

*Naxos*
'21st Century Classics'
Hong Kong: https://www.naxos.com/feature/21st_Century_Classics.asp
(Tavener, Mounry, Maxwell Davies, more)

*Sargasso*
'20 years of sound and silence'
UK: https://www.sargasso.com/
(Harvey, Pampin, more)


----------



## Art Rock

Naxos also has a separate line of 21st century music.


----------



## Selby

Art Rock said:


> Naxos also has a separate line of 21st century music.


Thanks! I added it to the big list, hope this is alright.


----------



## 20centrfuge

I've been thinking about how music reflects the time in which it is written. How does 21st century music reflect our time? What is different about this century than last century?

1. Major technological advances
2. Communication - the internet and satellite communication make the world far more integrated, and connected. There is an immediacy to communication that we have not experienced in previous centuries. Emails are instantaneous. No more waiting for letters. Everyone has a cell phone in their pocket and often communicates with short blurbs of texts. Sound bites and news being reduced to sensationalist nuggets runs rampant. In addition, it is a world where everyone has the potential to cause waves. Overnight internet sensations on youtube. Reality TV. Mass emails and spam.
3. Increasing globalization of brands - McDonalds in even more places. Online shopping.

How can music respond to OR reflect these changes? 
How is music responding to OR reflecting these changes?


----------



## Nereffid

Also:

Sono Luminus
http://www.sonoluminus.com/

New Amsterdam
https://www.newamrecords.com/

Navona
http://navonarecords.com/

Innova
https://www.innova.mu/


----------



## 20centrfuge

I found this to be an interesting article. This musicologist was asked to identify 3 pieces of music that represent some of the major trends in C21 music. *THIS* is what he came up with.


----------



## mmsbls

Interesting article. I might have thought of the first two - use of technology and influence of chamber ensembles. There are many works in that article I have not heard. I'm not sure how many I'll be able to find, but I'll certainly start looking.


----------



## Nereffid

Of all the names mentioned, many are composers whose music I like, and none are composers whose music I dislike, so I'm going to assume the author Rob Deemer is a man of excellent taste and intelligence and that his choices are superb.

(In fact, I like the one piece of _his_ music that I've heard, too!)


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

I'm listening to the Double Violin concerto by Lisa Bielawa mentioned in the article above. It's a very nice piece, but I'm a bit surprised that she represents 21st century music any more than another composer would. I wonder who else has written a similar piece who is born around 1970. Hey, that's my generation!
...Also listened to the string quartet by Gabriela Lena Frank and sort of remembered my composer-friend Aleksandra Vrebalov. She could have been represented with this piece...but it's from 1998...


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

http://site-323590.bcvp0rtal.com/de...kabout:-concerto-for-orchestra?autoStart=true
Here's some Gabriela Lena Frank from 2016. My new discovery of today thanks to the article a few posts back and the composer-page at musicsalesclassical.com...Hope she keeps going on like this!


----------



## 20centrfuge

An article: 10 Young Composers Who are Redefining Classical Music

Missy Mazzoli
Dobrinka Tabakova
Cheryl Frances-Hoad
Ann Cleare
Angélica Negrón
Nico Muhly
Daníel Bjarnason
Judd Greenstein
Thomas Adès
Mason Bates

Any insight into these names? I had only heard of Muhly and Ades.


----------



## Casebearer

Selby said:


> Thanks! I added it to the big list, hope this is alright.


BMC Records from Budapest also has lots of contemporary classical and jazz albums.


----------



## Selby

20centrfuge said:


> An article: 10 Young Composers Who are Redefining Classical Music
> 
> Missy Mazzoli
> Dobrinka Tabakova
> Cheryl Frances-Hoad
> Ann Cleare
> Angélica Negrón
> Nico Muhly
> Daníel Bjarnason
> Judd Greenstein
> Thomas Adès
> Mason Bates
> 
> Any insight into these names? I had only heard of Muhly and Ades.


*Missy Mazzoli* wrote a very engaging opera called _Song from the Uproar: Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt_. In my opinion it is good, I would even recommend it to individuals that do not generally like opera; it is guitar heavy, almost a little _punk rock_, the closest comparison I would make would be the music of David Lang.



















I adore the music of *Dobrinka Tabakova*. I have recommended her album String Paths (ECM New Series) many times. Her concerto for cello and strings will break your heart. The string septet is gorgeous.















EDIT: After talking about the Tabakova album I decided to play it. _Such different paths _(2008) for string septet. Just gorgeous. It is _tonal_, it is this wonderful mix of folksy and romantic without coming off as conservative or cliché. I could not recommend it highly enough.


----------



## tortkis

Nereffid said:


> New Amsterdam
> https://www.newamrecords.com/


New Amsterdam Records has been releasing recordings of interesting, unique new compositions. I liked the albums by violist Nadia Sirota a lot (Muhly etc.) I also enjoyed Jasper String Quartet (Gosfield, David Lang, & others), Perich by Chow, itsnotyouitsme (sweet ambient by McMurray/Burhans duo), Dan Trueman's etudes for prepared digital piano. The interesting releases which I want to hear are Roomfull of Teeth, NOW Ensemble, A O R T A (Chow), and more.

These are some of my favorite contemporary music labels not mentioned yet.

Irritable Hedgehog (Missouri)
http://recordings.irritablehedgehog.com/
Every recording by R. Andrew Lee is worth checking out. EIO, McIntire(reed)/Oldham(trumpet)/Padavic(bass) trio, is a superb improvisation group.
Randy Gibson









Another Timbre (UK)
http://www.anothertimbre.com/index.html
Quiet music by Wandelweiser composers, Skogen, Sabat, Bryn Harrison, etc.
Wandelweiser und so weiter









Populist Records (California)
http://www.populistrecords.com/
Experimental yet attractive new music
Daniel Corral: Refractions









Cold Blue (California)
http://www.coldbluemusic.com/
Fascinating and sensuous music by exceptional American composers.
Lentz: In the Sea of Ionia









Unexplained Sounds Group (Italy)
https://unexplainedsoundsgroup.bandcamp.com/
Experimental underground music from composers/musicians worldwide.
New frontiers of electronic music


----------



## nature

Are there any contemporary composers who write grand, sweeping (tonal) symphonies reminiscent of Mahler or Bruckner?


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## 20centrfuge

nature said:


> Are there any contemporary composers who write grand, sweeping (tonal) symphonies reminiscent of Mahler or Bruckner?


I would check out Rautavaara, the Finnish composer. He recently died, but his musical language is tonal. Try this symphony, Symphony 7, "Angel of Light":






I also really like his violin concerto.


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## nature

20centrfuge said:


> I would check out Rautavaara, the Finnish composer. He recently died, but his musical language is tonal. Try this symphony, Symphony 7, "Angel of Light":


Thanks. Already familiar with Rautavaara and I love his work. Especially his sort of mystical symbolist aesthetic. I would love to find more composers like him as well.


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## 20centrfuge

A bit more dissonant, but perhaps still in your realm would be Poul Ruders:


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## Kjetil Heggelund

Here's another recordlabel https://bridgerecords.com They got Poul Ruders among many others. Lots of guitarmusic too


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## Art Rock

nature said:


> Are there any contemporary composers who write grand, sweeping (tonal)






phonies reminiscent of Mahler or Bruckner?

Silvestrov is one of my favourite living composers. I also second the Rautavaara recommendation.


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## nature

That Rouders piece didn't interest me. Not my aesthetic.

However I really like the Silvestrov piece. Thanks!


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## 20centrfuge

I'd like to invite any stragglers to join the 21C listening chain thread. You could listen to the last five submitted works, and then submit your own. After that, just keep following and listening and submitting along with the rest of us.

It is really enjoyable listening to what everyone submits. I know I am biased, but I think it is the most exciting thread on TC right now.


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## 20centrfuge

Have any of you seen this analysis by the Baltimore Symphony about performance statistics of symphony orchestras and how often they perform music by living composers? It is quite interesting

https://www.bsomusic.org/stories/by-the-numbers-living-composers.aspx

This image was noteworthy to me, as well:








I'd never heard of Mason Bates. I listened to some of his stuff on Youtube and it seemed like music that was trying way too hard to appeal to the young crowd. Anyway, I thought I'd see what your thoughts are on him.

I admit I haven't heard most of his stuff, so I will listen to more.


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## mmsbls

I would not have guessed that over 25% of all concerts would include work from a living composer. Bates suggests that if lessor ensembles were included that number could be even higher. Two such ensembles that I have often attended may bear that out. The New Century Chamber Orchestra (in San Francisco) will perform contemporary works in 3 out of 4 concerts this year. My wife's community orchestra commissioned a premiere in every concert two years ago. 

Mason Bates is often played on the Q2 music radio station out of New York. I'll admit that I have not found much of his that really resonates with me.


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## arpeggio

If one checks out the world of concert bands the rate is even higher.

In both of the community bands that I play with we played at least one work by a living composer in every concert last season.


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## 20centrfuge

arpeggio said:


> If one checks out the world of concert bands the rate is even higher.
> 
> In both of the community bands that I play with we played at least one work by a living composer in every concert last season.


The concert band world has always been good with new music. I have been a member of a concert band (trumpet) for much of my adult life. It is interesting, though, that contemporary concert band music is generally much less concerned with being avant-garde (for example, how many spectral, or twelve tone concert band works are there?)


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## arpeggio

^^^^

There is the music a Karol Husa.

Gunther Schuller composed several works for band.

George Rochberg composed a major work for band during his 12-tone period: _Apocalyptica_. Unfortunately I have only heard an old recording with the MIT band that I no longer have. I have never found a performance on YouTube.

H. Owen Reed composed a work that employed aleatoric methods: _For the Unfortunate_. I am listening to it now.

Ross Lee Finney and Leslie Bassett composed 12-tone works for band.

Among the living composers John Corigliano _Symphony No. 3 for Band "Circus Maximus_ employs many aleatoric and antiphonal sections. There are several great performances on You Tube for example: 




Some other living composers who have composed adventurous music for band:
Jeffrey Hass. His _Concerto for Amplified Piano and Wind Ensemble_ was composed in 2001: http://www.music.indiana.edu/departments/academic/composition/recordings/hass/concerto.shtml

The following recording contains several adventurous works by contemporary composers: https://www.amazon.com/Augenblick-Johnston-Catherine-University-Ensemble/dp/B007X128AY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500862416&sr=8-1&keywords=christopher+stark+augenblick

Link to a performance of Christopher Stark's _Augenblick_ from the recording: 




The above are examples that I can think of off the top of my head.

Just thought of another. David Rakowski's _Ten of a Kind: Concerto for Ten Clarinets and Wind Ensemble_. He composed the work for the United States Marine Band. I was at the premier.


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## 20centrfuge

What music is being played in the 10 second intro?






Also, some very cool music played throughput this clip


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## Blancrocher

I started a group for contemporary classical discussion: http://www.talkclassical.com/groups/contemporary-music.html Like this thread, it's intended as an easygoing, non-argumentative place to chat about the music.

These things tend not to get much traffic, but it's there for anyone interested.


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## 20centrfuge

I joined the group. Great idea!!! And I like the current listening idea. I wonder if a CONTEMPORARY MUSIC - CURRENT LISTENING thread should be started on the main board. It has certain advantages and disadvantages to the listening chain. Anyone can post as often as they want with no expectation to have to listen to what everyone else posts.

On the flip side, I do like that the listening chain has that expectation. I was hoping for more discussion and participation there. Maybe the enthusiasm for it is dwindling. I don't know. I am open to anyone's thoughts or ideas.

The bottom line for me is to hear what music is out there that is being created NOW, *especially music that other people are passionate about.*


----------



## Blancrocher

I started a "contemporary music - current listening" thread on the main board:

http://www.talkclassical.com/50761-contemporary-music-current-listening.html


----------



## mmsbls

20centrfuge said:


> I joined the group. Great idea!!! And I like the current listening idea. I wonder if a CONTEMPORARY MUSIC - CURRENT LISTENING thread should be started on the main board. It has certain advantages and disadvantages to the listening chain. Anyone can post as often as they want with no expectation to have to listen to what everyone else posts.


The Listening Chain is great because we really focus on hearing all the works and people's thoughts on those works. The Current Listening will compliment the Listening Chain because people can post whatever they wish there.

Obviously everyone is welcome to post on the main forum or the groups, but I think there tends to be much less activity in the groups so I think it's a great idea to start the Current Listening thread in the main forum.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

Looky here! Should we listen and vote? We can pretend we're at the Proms!
http://5against4.com/the-proms-premieres-the-polls/


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## Blancrocher

Recent cd picks from Alex Ross:

Tyshawn Sorey, Verisimilitude; Sorey, Cory Smythe, Chris Tordini (Pi Recordings)

[I wrote a brief comment for the New Yorker website]

Daniel Lentz, River of 1000 Streams; Vicki Ray (Cold Blue)

Poulenc, Choral Works; The Sixteen (Coro)

Czernowin, Wintersongs; International Contemporary Ensemble, Steven Schick, Jeffrey Gavett, Kai Wessel (Kairos)

Randy Gibson, The Four Pillars Appearing from The Equal D under Resonating Apparitions of The Eternal Process in The Midwinter Starfield 16 VIII 10 (Kansas City); R. Andrew Lee (Irritable Hedgehog)

Pfitzner, Die Rose vom Liebesgarten; Erin Caves, Kouta Rasanen, Andreas Kindschuh, Astrid Weber, Jana Buchner, Tiina Penttinen, Andre Riemer, Chorus of Oper Chemnitz, Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie, Frank Beermann conducting (cpo)

Scott Wollschleger, Soft Aberration (various works); Longleash, Anne Lanzilotti, Karl Larson, Andy Kozar, Corrine Byrne, John Popham, Mivos Quartet (New Focus; out Oct. 17)

http://www.therestisnoise.com/


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## Blancrocher

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> Looky here! Should we listen and vote? We can pretend we're at the Proms!
> http://5against4.com/the-proms-premieres-the-polls/


Thanks for the post. Really excited to have access to the Birtwistle piece in particular:

http://5against4.com/audio/_Birtwis...s)_Harrison_Birtwistle_-_Deep_Time_(UKP).flac

I don't know what it is, but I'm finding myself distinctly drawn to his late works even though they seldom seem to me to be markedly different in approach from his earlier ones.


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## Blancrocher

A couple recent threads people may want to subscribe to:

Which Pieces do You REALLY LOVE? 1975-Present
http://www.talkclassical.com/51411-pieces-do-you-really.html

Electronic/Electroacoustic/Tape Music Current Listening
http://www.talkclassical.com/51307-electronic-electroacoustic-tape-music.html


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## tortkis

Blancrocher said:


> Recent cd picks from Alex Ross:
> 
> Tyshawn Sorey, Verisimilitude; Sorey, Cory Smythe, Chris Tordini (Pi Recordings)


What they are doing is interesting, which sounds like integrating jazz and contemporary classical. I liked the trio's first album Alloy a lot.

The album by Smythe, the pianist of the group, _A U T O TROPHS_ is also impressive. It began _"with an imaginary premise: Fats Waller working at IRCAM in the early 80s"_ and the other works are homage to Lucier, influenced by Harvey, inspired by Laurie Anderson. He is the pianist of Hilary Hahn's In 27 Pieces, very enjoyable collection of contemporary encore pieces.









https://corysmythe.bandcamp.com/



> Daniel Lentz, River of 1000 Streams; Vicki Ray (Cold Blue)


Cold Blue released three excellent, long-awaited albums last month.
http://coldbluemusic.com/new-releases/

Lentz's River of 1,000 Streams (2016) starts with strumming low notes, but gradually his characteristic sensual sounds emerge.
Larry Polansky's freehorn and other 2 works are beautiful microtonal pieces.
Stephen Whittington's Windmill and …from a thatched hut evoke splendid and lyrical soundscapes.


























> Scott Wollschleger, Soft Aberration (various works); Longleash, Anne Lanzilotti, Karl Larson, Andy Kozar, Corrine Byrne, John Popham, Mivos Quartet (New Focus; out Oct. 17)


Youtube clips I heard are very good and I am looking forward to the release.


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## tortkis

*Best of Bandcamp Contemporary Classical: September 2017*

Daniel Corral, Refractions
Anne La Berge, Raw
David Kirkland Garner, Dark Holler
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh / Garth Knox, All Soundings Are True
John Luther Adams, Canticles of the Holy Wind
Dalia Raudonikyte With, Solitarius
Gelsey Bell & John King, Ciphony
Andrew Lee, Randy Gibson: The Four Pillars Appearing from The Equal D under Resonating Apparitions of The Eternal Process in The Midwinter Starfield 16 VIII 10 (Kansas City)
Quiver, Small Worlds
Fonema Consort, Fifth Tableau

Melodic post-minimal to interactive / improvisational to experimental, the list captures wide varieties of contemporary classical music. I have listened to only half of them (Corral, Raghallaigh / Knox, J. L. Adams, With, Gibson), which are highly recommended.


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## 20centrfuge

I've been on a Christopher Rouse kick lately:

https://goo.gl/images/5ukhhh

Symphony no 3 (after Prokofiev Symphony no2)

I think he is a fine composer, perhaps a little more of 20th century ilk than 21st, but I still like it a lot.


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## Blancrocher

See the following link for a handy list of contemporary music labels posted by nathanb:

http://www.talkclassical.com/groups/contemporary-music-d1415-resources-etc.html


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## Blancrocher

If anyone has the inclination, it might be nice to have a jazz-and-classical thread in this part of the forum, perhaps encompassing both modern and contemporary. I'd do it myself, but I thought I'd give someone who actually knows about the subject a chance to write an op.


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## melodiousmonkey

A new contemporary group giving music - old and new - a fresh new take. I'm quite a fan, but they don't have much of a following yet so I'm spreading the word. All of the pieces performed so far are compositions of the 21st century, and a "Libertango" arrangement recently done by one of the violinists themselves. They call themselves Project MainStream.


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## Blancrocher

For bookmarking purposes, I'm mentioning this discussion thread for an electronic music list:

TC Top Recommended Electronics Works List; Discussion Thread

Some very interesting works and discussions on that thread already.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

I bump the thread! Bumpedybump


----------



## Selby

NPR interview and world premiere of Georg Friedrich Haas' 9th String Quartet

http://www.wqxr.org/story/bonus-tra...rms-georg-friedrich-haas-string-quartet-no-9/


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## PeterFromLA

Thanks for posting, Selby...

Also, folks should check out the interview with Haas, in the associated program: http://www.wqxr.org/story/performer-part-one/


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## Kjetil Heggelund

Selby said:


> NPR interview and world premiere of Georg Friedrich Haas' 9th String Quartet
> 
> http://www.wqxr.org/story/bonus-tra...rms-georg-friedrich-haas-string-quartet-no-9/


Ah! Complete darkness \m/ 
Something I suddenly linked to GF Haas the other day was: 2 swans flying by and the Doppler effect, creating some fun microtonal and polyrhythmic sounds


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## eugeneonagain

I have to admit that on a first listen it really doesn't do much for me. From the preliminary discussion we discover it is predicated upon tuning and harmonics from sustained notes and chords. I doubt most (if not all) listeners would be able to differentate between when they were actually tuning up and when they are playing.

Between 21:00 and 38:00 there is a compelling soundscape, but after the pizzicato section it isn't quite so good.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

Listening to Birtwistle now. This is a great youtube channel and also a blog.http://5against4.com/about/


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## mmsbls

A new composer for me - Amos Elkana. I listened to several works (below). Reflections is a work for violin with a computer recording the music and playing it back delayed through 4 speakers. Casino Umbro uses both Baroque and modern instruments in a work that has a Baroque sounding beginning and ending with a modern development in between. The Second String Quartet apparently is based on music that resembles a fractal structure. I enjoyed Reflections and the sextet more than the quartet although I think the quartet probably would require a bit more listening.

Reflections (2014, violin and electronics)
Casino Umbro (2010, sextet)
String Quartet no. 2 (2004)


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## Blancrocher

I've enjoyed multiple hearings of Bent Sorensen's Triple Concerto, "L'isola della Città" (The Island in the City). It won the Grawemeyer this year: for now, at least, it's one of my favorite recipients of the award in quite a while.

It may be happenstance that my other favorite work of the year is also a triple concerto (by Gubaidulina).

Sorensen's Triple Concerto (in 2 parts):


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## 20centrfuge

Did anyone else hear the Exterminating Angel (Thomas Ades) with the Metropolitan Opera? I saw it in a movie theater. I enjoyed it quite a bit!


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## mmsbls

Per Norgard: Sinfonia No. 7

Norgard is one of my favorite contemporary (though a bit old now) composers. I've enjoyed a number of orchestral works including his concerti and other symphonies.

My favorite movement of the 7th is the last which starts with a bouncy almost swing style and ends with ethereal muted passages the come to a somewhat abrupt end.


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## Blancrocher

New Thread: Exploring Contemporary Composers

Exploring Contemporary Composers

The first composer nominated for in-depth listening and discussion is Sofia Gubaidulina.

Interested forum members may want to subscribe.


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## arpeggio

20centrfuge said:


> Did anyone else hear the Exterminating Angel (Thomas Ades) with the Metropolitan Opera? I saw it in a movie theater. I enjoyed it quite a bit!


I saw it an enjoyed it as well. I had problems with the music. With contemporary music I frequently have problems with understanding it with just one listening.


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## 20centrfuge

deleted post. Sorry.


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## tortkis

Sequenza 21 - Best Recording 2017 (chamber, orchestra, contemporary opera, rock, pop, drone)
http://www.sequenza21.com/category/best-of/
chamber: http://www.sequenza21.com/2017/12/best-chamber-recording-2017/
opera: http://www.sequenza21.com/2017/12/b...ording-2017-andriessens-theatre-of-the-world/

5:4 - Best Albums of 2017
part 1: http://5against4.com/2017/12/30/best-albums-of-2017-part-1/
part 2: http://5against4.com/2017/12/31/best-albums-of-2017-part-2/

I have listened to only Sorey, Riley, Gibson, Szkavbucs, which are all very good. There are a lot of interesting albums, for me especially Kimmig-Studer-Zimmerlin, Adkins, Pateras, Czernowin, Narbutaitė, Andriessen.


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## Blancrocher

Alex Ross: Notable Recordings of 2017 (Preliminary)



> I have begun compiling my end-of-year list of notable performances and recordings. The following recordings will appear on it:
> 
> Tyshawn Sorey, Verisimilitude (Pi)
> 
> Divine Theatre: works of Giaches de Wert; Stile Antico (Harmonia Mundi)
> 
> Bach, Solo Cello Suites; Thomas Demenga (ECM)
> 
> Jürg Frey, Collection Gustave Roud; Frey, Stefan Thut, Dante Boon, Andrew McIntosh, Regula Konrad, Stephen Altoft, Lee Ferguson (another timbre)
> 
> James Weeks, Mala Punica; Exaudi (Winter & Winter)
> 
> Scott Wollschleger, Soft Aberration; Longleash, Anne Lanzilotti, Karl Larson, Andy Kozar, Corrine Byrne, John Popham, Mivos Quartet (New Focus)
> 
> Linda Catlin Smith, Drifter and other works; Apartment House, Bozzini Quartet (another timbre)
> 
> Björk, Utopia (One Little Indian)
> 
> Berlioz, Les Troyens; Joyce DiDonato, Michael Spyres, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Stéphane Degout, Nicolas Courjal, Marianne Crebassa, Hanna Hipp, Cyrille Dubois, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Philippe Sly, John Nelson conducting the Choeur de l'Opéra du Rhin, Badischer Staatsopernchor, orchestra and chorus of the Philharmonique de Strasbourg (Erato)


http://www.therestisnoise.com/2017/11/notable-recordings-of-2017-preliminary.html


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## tortkis

Cafe OTO offers digital downloads of their live recordings and some other labels. The catalogues mainly consist of free improvisation and avan-garde compositions.
https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/shop/category/digital-downloads/

OTOROKU - A lot of interesting live recordings such as Yoshihide, Gayle, McPhee, Butcher, MEV, etc. I downloaded John Tilbury's concert on 31st August, 2016, including Byrd, Gibbons and improvisation on Feldman's Coptic Light.

MATCHLESS RECORDINGS - Many AMM recordings which have been difficult to find. Cardew's piano music 1959-70 and Dave Smith First Piano Concert are great findings for me.

DIAFANI - Eva-Maria Houben's label. 6 Sonatas is beautiful.

And INCUS RECORDINGS (many Derek Bailey recordings), ROARATORIO, 1703 SKIVBOLAGET, OPEN MOUTH, CONFRONT RECORDINGS, FATAKA, PING PONG, HOT CARS WARP, MIE.


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## NjaP

mmsbls said:


> Per Norgard: Sinfonia No. 7
> 
> Norgard is one of my favorite contemporary (though a bit old now) composers. I've enjoyed a number of orchestral works including his concerti and other symphonies.
> 
> My favorite movement of the 7th is the last which starts with a bouncy almost swing style and ends with ethereal muted passages the come to a somewhat abrupt end.


Norgard's 6th Symphony is easily one of my favourites ever


----------



## San Antone

Almost all of the music being mentioned in this thread is really pretty old.

Some composers active in the last few years, and a recent work:

*David Wolfson*: _Secret, Lost, Undone_ is a mixed quartet for flute, trumpet, English horn and cello
*Zeno Baldi*: _Mold_ (2018, for 6 instruments) was co-commissioned by Divertimento Ensemble (Milan) and Opus XXI (Hamburg)
*Balázs Horváth*: _I Got Riff_ (2012; for symphony orchestra and electronics)
*Chris Dench*: _Piano Sonata_
*Catherine Lamb*: a series of pieces entitled _Prisma Interius_
*Germán Alonso*: _This is a piece about ..._, written for Vortex Ensemble from Geneva.
*Rahilia Hasanova*: _Penetrations_, 2016, for solo Bass Clarinet. 
*Kelley Sheehan*: _Three Movements_, perhaps as the title suggests, is a purely acoustic chamber work that consists of three continuous movements.

You can hear these works and read an interview with these, as well as many more, living composers, *HERE*.


----------



## Kollwitz

I really enjoyed Hans Abrahamsen's Three Pieces for Orchestra in concert a few weeks ago (Rattle and the BPO gave its UK premiere before they played Bruckner 9). I think there were five percussionists on stage. Really interesting rhythms and textures, with a strange 'tick-tock' in the final piece that I would've thought gimmicky if someone had described it to me, but I thought it really worked.

Are there any other pieces by Abrahamsen that anyone would particularly recommend? Or similar composers?


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## Art Rock

Kollwitz said:


> Are there any other pieces by Abrahamsen that anyone would particularly recommend? Or similar composers?


_Schnee _and _Let me tell you_ are probably the most famous. I like them. As usual for 21st amd 20th century composers, I also like the string quartets.


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## Enthusiast

Kollwitz said:


> Are there any other pieces by Abrahamsen that anyone would particularly recommend? Or similar composers?


The quartets are good - very attractive, full of interesting sounds (sometimes it is hard to believe you are listening to a quartet) and ideas (Abrahamsen seems always to be full of genuine surprises). Not the most profound music, perhaps, but certainly very good - delightful, even - music. Not everything has to be profound.


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## mmsbls

Kollwitz said:


> Are there any other pieces by Abrahamsen that anyone would particularly recommend? Or similar composers?


You could look at the section on Abrahamsen in the thread "Exploring Contemporary Composers"


----------



## Kollwitz

Thanks, it's nice to explore the work of a living composer for a change.


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

Bump! I see from the beginning of this thread, that it's hyper informative! Right now, I'm looking for a good book that has information on all the modern styles and key composers, and I hope for an easy way out...


----------



## Guest

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> Bump! I see from the beginning of this thread, that it's hyper informative! Right now, I'm looking for a good book that has information on all the modern styles and key composers, and I hope for an easy way out...


Music After the Fall by Tim Rutherford Johnson.

For something a little bit more general and focussing on a lot of what was going on in Europe in the 20th century, there's also New Ears for New Music by Constantin Floros.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

Thank-you! I read a review and got a little confused. Have you read the book? I'm actually after "labels", which the review said was not considered in this book...


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## Guest

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> Thank-you! I read a review and got a little confused. Have you read the book? I'm actually after "labels", which the review said was not considered in this book...


Music After the Fall? I haven't read the whole thing yet, but it's the only book I know that actually goes into a good amount of detail examining the kinds of music being written since 1989.

The Floros book is more of an overview of the previous century, but with many interesting essays and chapters that discuss trends that have carried over into the last 18 years.

Honestly, I have no clue what you mean by 'labels'


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## Kjetil Heggelund

shirime said:


> Music After the Fall? I haven't read the whole thing yet, but it's the only book I know that actually goes into a good amount of detail examining the kinds of music being written since 1989.
> 
> The Floros book is more of an overview of the previous century, but with many interesting essays and chapters that discuss trends that have carried over into the last 18 years.
> 
> Honestly, I have no clue what you mean by 'labels'


Is that Constantin Floros-New Ears for New Music? With "labels" I mean styles, like newcomplexity for Ferneyhough or spectral music for Grisey. You have anyway made it easy for me! No need to surf this whole thread...


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## Guest

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> Is that Constantin Floros-New Ears for New Music? With "labels" I mean styles, like newcomplexity for Ferneyhough or spectral music for Grisey. You have anyway made it easy for me! No need to surf this whole thread...


Well, I listen primarily to 21st (and late 20th) century music and I can tell you it's really _really_ hard to come up with unifying labels for different groups of composers.

We can be descriptive in how we compare composers with others in terms of things they share in common......Mark Andre and Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf have written a number of slow, sparse compositions with very airy or still sounds interrupted with bursts of colour or sudden contrasts. Mahnkopf, again, has some similarities with Haas, Coates and Catherine Lamb in their use of micro-intervals (Bernhard Lang's Monadologie XII _The Saucy Maid_ is a significant example of microtonal music on a massive scale: two orchestras tuned a quartertone apart!).

Dench and Finnissy have composed some of the most substantial additions to 'new complex' piano repertoire but their music is so distinct from one another that it's hard for me to even use the same label to describe them.

Composers like Moritz Eggert, Olga Neuwirth and Wolfgang Mitterer have made use of post-Schnittke polystylist techniques each in their own way, with their own sound. Mitterer is particularly fascinating in that he has worked extensively with electronics as well, and there are many other composers whose works featuring live electronics with acoustic instruments are particularly exciting and all unique (Clemens Gadenstätter's _Comic Sense_ is a personal favourite). But then again Panayiotis Kokoras is creating incredible works for solo instruments and fixed-media electronics that seem to want to exist in a category all on their own.

Helmuth Lachenmann is so difficult to categorise, but he has had such an enormous influence on the way people think about sound, music, tradition (Wolfgang Rihm as a traditionalist/modernist as well!) and innovation in the 21st century, especially when it comes to instrumental technique, including all I have mentioned above (and below). Czernowin and Liza Lim have a comparable exploratory approach to instrumentation, but both of their styles are uniquely melodic (so is Mahnkopf's, in his own way) and in contrast to other composers with an interest in colour but whose music tend to be far less lyrical (like Adámek, Steen-Andersen and usually Bernhard Lang.)

I could keep going, actually I don't really know where to stop, but I will probably just end this post saying that I honestly do not know how to label and categorise these composers or why it would be much of an achievement to.........

I don't know how to label composers like Ulrich Krieger, Elena Rykova, Rupert Huber, Rebecca Saunders, Bernhard Gander, Nikolaus Brass, Natasha Barrett, Richard Barrett, Atli Ingólfsson, Adriana Hölszky, Joanna Wozny, Wenchen Qin, Elena Mendoza, Dai Fujikura, Clara Iannotta, Saed Haddad, Jason Eckardt, Lisa Streich, Marianna Liik, Matthias Pintscher, Aaron Cassidy, Misato Mochizuki, Keeril Makan, Peter Ruzicka, Salvatore Sciarrino, Ramon Lazkano, Lucia Ronchetti, Unsuk Chin, Édith Canat de Chizy, Andreas Pfügler, Isabel Mundry, Alberto Posadas, Johannes Schöllhorn, Johannes Maria Staud, Johannes Kalitzke, Beat Furrer, Ruben Seroussi, Peter Jakober, Rupert Huber, Wolfgang von Schweinitz, Milica Djordjevic or Anthony Pateras and I'm not sure exactly why I would want to come up with any definitive label.

Making comparisons is the best I can do for you, I'm afraid. _Music After the Fall_ is still probably the best book you can find as well, unless you have access to some musicological journals on New Music.


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## Guest

I tend to use a different kind of label-the record label-to aid my own exploration in 21st century music. There are two main ones which I can't live without: KAIROS, NEOS (especially NEOS) and Wergo are the big three, but Col Legno, Edition Wandelweiser, Aeon and Mode have _heaps_ of good stuff as well, not to mention the more area-specific labels like Ondine, NMC, Musikszene Schweiz, Naïve etc.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

Wow! Nice post, you should keep going  That's what this thread is about! I guess I'm still old-fashioned and have only heard 6/7 of the ones you mentioned...I ordered both of the books.


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## Guest

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> Wow! Nice post, you should keep going  That's what this thread is about! I guess I'm still old-fashioned and have only heard 6/7 of the ones you mentioned...I ordered both of the books.


Thanks 
Rutherford-Johnson writes way better than me, and I guess my own biases and preferences are pretty clear anyway, but I will write some more later, just from my own perspective I guess.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

I also check out record labels. NEOS is great! I sometimes wonder how to describe new music, and your way of seeing similarities between composers will probably work, but I find it hard to categorize just by listening. I play guitar and want to have a repertory that touches on so many aspects of modern music as I can handle  I also collect scores and have many by composers from all over. My problem is that I'm lazy...That's why my coming projects are with duopartners, now I have to practice


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## Guest

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> I also check out record labels. NEOS is great! I sometimes wonder how to describe new music, and your way of seeing similarities between composers will probably work, but I find it hard to categorize just by listening. I play guitar and want to have a repertory that touches on so many aspects of modern music as I can handle  I also collect scores and have many by composers from all over. My problem is that I'm lazy...That's why my coming projects are with duopartners, now I have to practice


I play guitar as well. Actually, I've composed a couple of pieces for guitar duo including a recent one for a couple of friends of mine. A recording of the premiere will be up on YouTube soon, and I could send you the score if you like.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

shirime said:


> I play guitar as well. Actually, I've composed a couple of pieces for guitar duo including a recent one for a couple of friends of mine. A recording of the premiere will be up on YouTube soon, and I could send you the score if you like.


I'd love to hear your piece  This spring I performed with a guitar buddy who also likes new music. I would love to see the score and hopefully play it!


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## Kjetil Heggelund

https://www.swr.de/-/id=21966288/property=download/nid=2136962/6hbgge/donaueschinger-musiktage-2018-programmflyer-pdf.pdf
Here's the program for the Donaueschinger-Musiktage this coming October. Does anyone here like going to contemporary music festivals? Here in Norway we have the Ultima festival.


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## Guest

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> https://www.swr.de/-/id=21966288/property=download/nid=2136962/6hbgge/donaueschinger-musiktage-2018-programmflyer-pdf.pdf
> Here's the program for the Donaueschinger-Musiktage this coming October. Does anyone here like going to contemporary music festivals? Here in Norway we have the Ultima festival.


Thanks for posting! I'm familiar with probably just under half of the composers mentioned here so I'm looking forward to some new discoveries when the NEOS recordings come out. 
Lots of Isabel Mundry, yay! Big fan 
And nice to see some Malin Bång, Agata Zubel, Poppe and Aperghis as well! Wish I could go there for the festival this year.


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## tortkis

tortkis said:


> Cafe OTO offers digital downloads of their live recordings and some other labels. The catalogues mainly consist of free improvisation and avan-garde compositions.
> https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/shop/category/digital-downloads/


Wandelwiser downloads (320Kbps mp3 or FLAC) are now available at the Cafe OTO site.
https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/shop/category/wandelweiser/
Although there are only 6 albums at this moment, this is a great news for me.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

https://www.newamrecords.com
Since I heard Vespers for a New Dark Age by Missy Mazzoli. Going to check out some albums if possible


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## tortkis

New label: elsewhere
http://www.elsewheremusic.net/









elsewhere is a new music label founded by Yuko Zama this year, releasing contemporary classical, improvisation, and experimental music.

Biliana Voutchkova / Michael Thieke - Blurred Music (elsewhere 001-3)
Melaine Dalibert - Musique pour le lever du jour (elsewhere 002)
Jürg Frey - 120 Pieces of Sound (elsewhere 003)
Clara de Asís - Without (elsewhere 004)
Stefan Thut - about (elsewhere 005)

I listened to the Dalibert. Music to hear decays, resonances and overtones.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/arts/music/unsuk-chin-new-york-philharmonic-kravis-prize.html
Unsuk Chin news here!


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## Blancrocher

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/arts/music/unsuk-chin-new-york-philharmonic-kravis-prize.html
> Unsuk Chin news here!


I love that clarinet concerto mentioned in the article--I'm impatient for a recording!


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## Sloe

Blancrocher said:


> I love that clarinet concerto mentioned in the article--I'm impatient for a recording!


I agree. I have listened to it several times. The clarinet is a beautiful sounding instrument by itself that works well for concerts.


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## rbacce

Interesting thread for those who are interested in contemporary and graphic notation:

https://llllllll.co/t/experimental-music-notation-resources/149/

And here, the whole notation of Cornelius Cardew's Treatise:

https://blogthehum.wordpress.com/2016/02/29/cornelius-cardews-treatise-1963-67/


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## Blancrocher

Joël Bons' "Nomaden" has recently won the Grawemeyer competition.

Link to Grawemeyer Award site: http://grawemeyer.org/music-composition/#toggle-id-3

Bons discusses his work in this video interview: 




The whole work is available on an album on Spotify.

Here is a "trailer" from Youtube:


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## mmsbls

Blancrocher said:


> Joël Bons' "Nomaden" has recently won the Grawemeyer competition. ...


I just listened to the entire work on this BIS recording (on Naxis Music Library).









When I started reading about the work, I was a bit skeptical because it uses a large number of non-Western instruments (Turkish kemençe, the Chinese erhu, the Indian sarangi, Chinese sheng, Azeri tar and kamancha, segah, setar, etc.) along with Western instruments (notably the cello). But I simply loved this work.

Obviously there's a mix of "unconventional" timbres, but the mix seems to work wonderfully.


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## Blancrocher

mmsbls said:


> When I started reading about the work, I was a bit skeptical because it uses a large number of non-Western instruments (Turkish kemençe, the Chinese erhu, the Indian sarangi, Chinese sheng, Azeri tar and kamancha, segah, setar, etc.) along with Western instruments (notably the cello). But I simply loved this work.
> 
> Obviously there's a mix of "unconventional" timbres, but the mix seems to work wonderfully.


I feel the same. I'm going to re-listen sometime in the next week to see if my feeling changes--some of the sounds are really lovely and striking, though I wonder if I'll be tempted to shuttle between different favorite parts (as I sometimes do with works composed of miniatures). In any case, I really enjoyed hearing the work. I'm curious to hear some of the composer's work for guitar, which is his specialty.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

Blancrocher said:


> I feel the same. I'm going to re-listen sometime in the next week to see if my feeling changes--some of the sounds are really lovely and striking, though I wonder if I'll be tempted to shuttle between different favorite parts (as I sometimes do with works composed of miniatures). In any case, I really enjoyed hearing the work. I'm curious to hear some of the composer's work for guitar, which is his specialty.


According to sheerpluck.de, mr. Bons wrote music for guitar before 1995. Are any guitar pieces missing there?
https://www.sheerpluck.de/composer-342-joel-bons


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## Phil loves classical

mmsbls said:


> I just listened to the entire work on this BIS recording (on Naxis Music Library).
> 
> View attachment 117779
> 
> 
> When I started reading about the work, I was a bit skeptical because it uses a large number of non-Western instruments (Turkish kemençe, the Chinese erhu, the Indian sarangi, Chinese sheng, Azeri tar and kamancha, segah, setar, etc.) along with Western instruments (notably the cello). But I simply loved this work.
> 
> Obviously there's a mix of "unconventional" timbres, but the mix seems to work wonderfully.


I find it interesting.

There is this commentary on the work by the composer. He makes a pretty suprising admission, I thought, from 1:00 to 1:30 on contemporary music.


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## Flutter

mmsbls said:


> I just listened to the entire work on this BIS recording (on Naxis Music Library).
> 
> View attachment 117779
> 
> 
> When I started reading about the work, I was a bit skeptical because it uses a large number of non-Western instruments (Turkish kemençe, the Chinese erhu, the Indian sarangi, Chinese sheng, Azeri tar and kamancha, segah, setar, etc.) along with Western instruments (notably the cello). But I simply loved this work.
> 
> Obviously there's a mix of "unconventional" timbres, but the mix seems to work wonderfully.


Sounds like my kind of work, gonna hunt it down


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## Enthusiast

Phil loves classical said:


> I find it interesting.
> 
> There is this commentary on the work by the composer. He makes a pretty suprising admission, I thought, from 1:00 to 1:30 on contemporary music.


From the numerous and different clips available on YouTube, it seems an attractive piece. Perhaps it is a little Stravinskian? Certainly, it took me back to music from the first half of the 20th century (a pleasant enough journey) and it is nice not to get neo-Romanticism which is what I was expecting listening on your clip to Bons saying that contemporary music lacks emotion. He says he never cries listening to contemporary music but, if Nomaden is supposed to move us to tears, I think it fails in this. For me, too much of the work draws on and mixes up relatively undigested "world music". I like lots of "world music" but don't need to find it repeated so literally in new classical music.


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## tortkis

Nomaden is a very enjoyable work. It may fit in Cantaloupe catalogue very well. However, although I am very fond of unusual instruments (including invented ones) used in Western classical works, this sounds like an assorted package of world music instruments. Personally, I prefer when a composer concentrates on one or few instruments, drawing out its characteristic and potential. The composer's comment about contemporary music is very odd. I am not sure what kind of music he has in his mind. I think the contemporary classical has the widest range of emotions, from super sober to extreme sentimentality, grimness, joy, and so on.


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## Blancrocher

A recent thread about a Guardian list of the 25 best works of the 21st century:

Best 25 works of this century?


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## tortkis

Another Timbre on Bandcamp
All the releases of Another Timbre are now available on bandcamp, both physical CD (except for some OOP) and download. The catalogue includes a lot of interesting music: Canadian composers series, Wandelweiser, free improvisation, Feldman, Cage, Eastman, Lamb, and so on.


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## Blancrocher

Lei Liang has won the Grawemeyer Award for Composition.

http://grawemeyer.org/music-composition/

The honored work, "A Thousand Mountains, A Million Streams" (2017), can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kjso8fHnaZ2yIirFBmPmASzYvFAFQjHRI


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## tortkis

*Best albums of 2019*

Here are some lists of 2019 best contemporary music albums. I have listened to only very few of them and I am checking out interesting recordings I missed.

Sequenza 21/ - Closing out the twenty-tens: Schell's picks for 2019 by Michael Schell
http://www.sequenza21.com/2019/12/schells-picks-for-2019/

bandcamp - The Best Contemporary Classical Albums of 2019
https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2019/the-best-contemporary-classical-albums-of-2019

5:4 - Best Albums of 2019
http://5against4.com/2019/12/30/best-albums-of-2019-part-1/
http://5against4.com/2019/12/31/best-albums-of-2019-part-2/

I CARE IF YOU LISTEN - Editor's Picks: 2019 Contemporary Classical Albums
https://www.icareifyoulisten.com/2019/12/editors-picks-2019-contemporary-classical-albums/

Free Jazz Blog's 2019 Top 10s
https://www.freejazzblog.org/2019/12/free-jazz-blogs-2019-top-tens.html


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## SanAntone

I have created three threads for 21st century music (although one also has late 20th century music)

*The Contemporary String Quartet: works written since 1970*

*21st Century Chamber Music*

*New Orchestral Music - Works of the 21st Century *


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## christo131

Have just listened for the first time (to the Sophie-Mutter recording). Thanks you janspe for reminding me how courageous and passionate her writing is.


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