# New generations



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Looking for a list of favourite active composers (say, born around the year 1970, but not necessarily if s/he was a late bloomer) who would have begun to make it it big in the 90s and the subsequent decades. Adès is a good example. Who are some others that you enjoy?


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

I am not acquainted with the young composers generation, but I recently enjoyed very much

"Heur, leurre, lueur" for cello & orchestra, by Stefano Gervasoni (1962), a pupil of Luigi Nono and, later, of Ligeti and Lachenmannn among others.
Hope to have the chance to listen to it again (a major problem for most of the new compositions...)

Here the composer's site - in English


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## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

Mmmmm....interesting exercise !

A few 60s in here - Golijov the earliest, I believe in 1960. All composers I have as a disc or a download, & as I'm not really very adventurous, there's nothing too outlandish. Hope a few are of interest.

Lera Auerbach, Esteban Benzecry, Paul Carr, Unsuk Chin,
Francisco Coll, Guillaume Connesson, Marc-Andre Dalbavie,
Avner Dorman, Soren Nils Eichberg, Mohammed Fairouz,
Osvaldo Golijov, Matthew Hindson, Jimmy Lopez,
Peter Machajdik, Frederik Magle, Jaakko Mantyjarvi,
Paul Mealor, Ivan Moody, Olli Mustonen, Tarik O'Regan,
Roxanna Panufnik, Matthias Pintscher, Victoria Poleva,
Kevin Puts, Veli-Matti Puumala , Steven Reineke,
Joey Roukens, Fazil Say, Sansar Sangidorj, Aleksandr Shymko,
Fredrik Sixten, Dobrinka Tabakova, Joby Talbot,
Christopher Theofanidis, Will Todd, Huw Watkins .


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Dobrinka Tabakova and Missy Mazzoli are both superb. Both born in 1980.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

*Chicks from Sweden!*

Carin Bartosch Edström, 1965*
Kim Hedås, 1965*
Ylva Nyberg Bentancor, 1967
Maria Löfberg, 1968*
Victoria Borisova-Ollas, 1969*
Paulina Sundin, 1970
Ida Lundén, 1971
Leilei Tian, 1971
Tebogo Monnakgotla, 1972*
Farangis Nurulla-Khoja, 1972
Malin Bång, 1974
Mirjam Tally, 1976
Britta Byström, 1977*
Andrea Tarrodi, 1981

Not many of them available on commercial releases, but some (marked with *)

/ptr


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

cjvinthechair said:


> Mmmmm....interesting exercise !
> 
> A few 60s in here - Golijov the earliest, I believe in 1960. All composers I have as a disc or a download, & as I'm not really very adventurous, there's nothing too outlandish. Hope a few are of interest.
> 
> ...


Getting older is such a pain. It's impossible to keep up to date. Of these I have only heard of Unsuk Chin and Frederik Magle.

I know a lot more of the 1950s generation of composers.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

I look forward to exploring the composers that others mention. I had been pursuing these matters more a few years ago, but have been preoccupied with other musical researches and have not had the opportunity to come back to this question.

My first few are a bit older than you were looking for. Cited with the works that caught my attention. In chronological order:

*Osvaldo Golijov (b. 1960) (for his _Pasion segun san Marcos_)





*Unsuk Chin (b. 1961) (for her _Violin Concerto_ and _Cello Concerto_)





*Marc-Andre Hamelin (b. 1961) (while he is best known as one of the world's finest pianists, his _Etudes_ are a fascinating throw-back to the 19th practice of doing virtuoso pianistic variations on the style of earlier composers)

*Jennifer Higdon (b. 1961) (for her recent _Violin Concerto_ and _Percussion Concerto_). Link here:









*Bryce Dessner (b. 1976), best known as lead guitarist for the rock group The National, he has a masters in composition from Yale. His 2013 _Aheym_ was premiered by the Kronos Quartet. Link here:




He has a new release with two major compositions: _St. Carolyn by the Sea_ and _Raphael_. Interview with him here:





*Tarik O'Regan (b. 1978) (for his _The Ecstacies Above_ from the album _Threshold of Night_) 





*Nico Muhly (b. 1981) (for his _Motion_ and his _Seeing Is Believing_)





*Missy Missoli (b. 1980) (for her _Still Life with Avalanche_, _Cathedral City_, and _Songs from the Uproar_)









*Judd Greenstein (b. 1980s) (for his _Change_ from 2009, performed by the NOW Ensemble):


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Magnus Lindberg

Born 1958


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Great thread. I'll have so much to explore. 

Right now I'm listening to Andrea Tarrodi (Miroirs string quartet no. 1 and Empíreo). Both are wonderful. Thank you, ptr, for the recommendation and wonderful title for your post! I hope I can find music from some of the other composers you mentioned.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Great thread idea! I'm looking forward to following up on suggestions (especially if people post links to specific works).

I'm finding it tough to think of composers born after 1970, but thats lack of exposure rather than lack of interest.

The first name that came to mind was Rebecca Saunders, but I see she's older than i thought - born 1967:


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Other than those already mentioned, Hector Parra, Olga Neuwirth, Enno Poppe and Michel van der Aa sprung to mind but a quick google showed Enno and Olga are much older than I thought

Will follow closely - great thread idea!


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

An interesting list here whith short introduction and links of " 10 Young Female Composers You Should Know":

http://flavorwire.com/172305/10-young-female-composers-you-should-know/

taken from the NPR vote on "100 Composers Under 40" (with quite a porous definition of "composer":

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/23/135473622/the-mix-100-composers-under-40


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## Guest (Apr 19, 2014)

I don't listen to music by birthdate. But I can look at my friends and guess how old they are (within 20 years).

Emmanuelle Gibello. 



Adam Stansbie.

__
https://soundcloud.com/
Anna Clyne. 



Natasha Barrett. 



Diana Simpson Salazar. 



Michael Boyd. http://www.societyofcomposers.org/members/MichaelBoyd/
Simon Steen-Andersen. 



eRikm. 




Enjoy!


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Donnacha Dennehy, born 1970, Ireland:


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

cjvinthechair said:


> Mmmmm....interesting exercise !
> 
> A few 60s in here - Golijov the earliest, I believe in 1960. All composers I have as a disc or a download, & as I'm not really very adventurous, there's nothing too outlandish. Hope a few are of interest.
> 
> ...


I know a few of these! Terrific composers, this is a great list. Thanks very much!


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I'm slowly working my way through these suggestions. Right now I've heard a few by Victoria Poleva. I really like what I've heard.

Messages for onesimpleman
No man is an island

Thanks CoAG for starting this thread.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

I'm going through that NPR list above on the Current Listening thread. I'll relist the ones I've liked here periodically.

Lera Auerbach - Symphony No.1 "Chimera"
Anna Clyne - Within Her Arms
Timothy Andres Trade Winds
Christopher Cerrone - High Windows
Avner Dorman - Mandolin Concerto
Alexandra Du Bois - Noctilucent Song for String Orchestra


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

I was intrigued to see that list that SimonMZ posted from National Public Radio of "100 Composers under 40." I'm familiar with many of those because of my interest in jazz and indie rock. I had cited five of these already in my earlier list:

*Bryce Dessner (of The National)
*Tarik O'Regan
*Nico Muhly
*Missy Mazzoli
*Judd Greenstein

Let me add something about a few others.:

*(1) Darcy James Argue*. His band Secret Society is, I would argue, reinventing the sound and concept of jazz big band. I thought his record _Infernal Machines_ from 2009 was the finest of that year and one of the best jazz records of the decade. (It was nominated for many awards, including the 2011 Grammy and the 2010 Juno). Check out his website, which is a really creative layout and has lots of info, including their live performances. Here's a link to recordings page, which lets you listen to complete tracks from _Infernal Machines_:
http://www.secretsocietymusic.org/albums/

*(2) Vijay Iyer.* Iyer is a world-class jazz pianist. He has an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in music and technology for the University of California Berkeley and was recently awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (one of those "genius" grants). He has recently begun teaching music at Harvard. He often combines traditions of Indian classical music with jazz (check out the 2nd link). A couple of videos:










This video highlights another figure on the NPR list, Rudresh Mahanthappa.

*(3) Andrew Bird.* How often are there great rock violinists? Bird uses computer looping and creates these remarkable spontaneous multi-layered masterworks. He is also a brilliant lyricist and a world-class whistler. He has been active since the mid-90s and a group leader since the early 2000s. Favorite records: _Weather Systems_ (2003), _Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs_ (2005), _Armchair Apocrypha_ (2007), _Noble Beast_ (2009), _Break It Yourself_ (2012).

This is one of my favorite of his compositions, "Anonanimal":





Here's a version of him live:





*(4) Zach Condon (Group: Beirut).* In the mid-2000s, as a young teenager, Condon traveled to eastern Europe and fell in love with gypsy music. He's primarily a trumpeter, but also favors (strangely) a ukelele. In his first record, _Gulag Orkestar_, he created this unusual blend of indie rock and gypsy (particular the French-style a la Django Reinhart). He has wandered around in various genres since then, some successful, some not. Here's a couple of tracks:









There are another 11 on that list that I know pretty well. I'll try to post more later.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Jefferson Friedman - String Quartet No.2
Judd Greenstein - String Quartet "Four On The Floor"
Joseph Hallman - Cello Concerto
Takuma Itoh - Daydreams


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

John Mackey - The Frozen Cathedral
Matt McBane - Anchor
Eric Nathan - Timbered Bells
Andrew Norman - The Companion Guide To Rome 
Tarik O'Regan - The Ecstasies Above


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Today I've listened to Lera Auerbach and loved several works:

Symphony No. 1
Dialogues on Stabat Mater

This thread is a gold mine.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Simon Moon said:


> Magnus Lindberg
> 
> Born 1958


WOOT! I'm playing his Gran Duo at my university, the principal part! It was tough to get into, but it's grown on me a lot since.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Carter Pann - Four Factories
Gabriel Prokofiev - Cello Concerto
Joel Peckett - String Quartet Concerto "Short Stories"
Kevin Puts - Credo
Eric Wubbels - Viola Quartet


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## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

SimonNZ said:


> Carter Pann - Four Factories
> Gabriel Prokofiev - Cello Concerto
> Joel Peckett - String Quartet Concerto "Short Stories"
> Kevin Puts - Credo
> Eric Wubbels - Viola Quartet


Wasn't aware of Pann or Puckett (as I think it is !) - very happy to have been introduced, thank you !


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Puckett it is, well spotted. Too late to edit.

That was actually quite a strong group I played last night.

Now that I've finished a first pass at the NPR list I'm going to start next on one of the lists I liked the look of at the start of the thread - which turns out to be yours.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

John Mackey is a steadily rising Band composer. At my university, we played this piece below, which I played Bass Flute in (if anyone remembers that pic I posted back in February  )

Frozen Cathedral:


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Like Simon, I've been going through the NPR list (and Simon's links), though more slowly. I revisited a few that I was already familiar with, esp. Jefferson Friedman (I have his string quartets), Tarik O'Regan (I have his Threshold of Night album), and Judd Greenstein (I have his _Change_, but enjoyed Four on the Floor String Quartet, which was new to me). Of the names that are new to me (about 2/3), I listened (thus far) to Lera Auerbach, Andrew Norman, Kevin Puts, Joel Puckett, Gabriel Prokofiev, Eric Wubbels. I really enjoyed Auerbach's Symphony and listened to several of Kevin Puts' works (a chamber work _And Legions Will Arise_ and his _Piano Concerto #1_). I was hoping Gabriel Prokofiev's works would have the spunk of his grandfather's work, but was a little disappointed (but then that was only a first listen to one work). I hope this thread prospers. I'm sure that since these are all young composers, there will be rough edges and a still-in-search-of-one's-own voice issue. But it is great to see and savor the diversity.

Simon, that's so much for the links.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Huilunsoittaja: Cool! I played that very recording just a few days ago (in fact its listed in post 20).


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Alypius said:


> I'm sure that since these are all young composers, there will be rough edges and a still-in-search-of-one's-own voice issue. But it is great to see and savor the diversity.


Exactly. You've said in two short sentence what I was struggling writing in my head to get down to just one paragraph.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Mohammad Fairouz - Symphony No.4 "In The Shadow Of No Towers"
Viktoria Poleva - "No Man Is An Island" cantata
Esteban Benzecry - Violin Concerto
Guillaume Connesson - Sextet


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

I am slowly making my journey but, as expected, these pieces do not make much impression, though I find it worthwhile on the first/one listening.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

(sigh) I know I shouldn't ask, but...why is that "as expected"?


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## hreichgott (Dec 31, 2012)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> which I played Bass Flute in (if anyone remembers that pic I posted back in February  )


We do not remember. Post it again


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

hreichgott said:


> We do not remember. Post it again


https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t1/1976901_10202378496695094_848749894_n.jpg


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Olli Mustonen - Symphony No.1
John Talbot - Tide Harmonic
Joey Donemus - Percussion Concerto
Dobrinka Tabakova - Suite In Old Style


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

SimonNZ said:


> (sigh) I know I shouldn't ask, but...why is that "as expected"?


Because I keep getting similar reaction almost everytime I listen to such.
But I shall persist and one day I might get there.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Now listening:

Dobrinka Tabakova: _Suite in Old Style_





Tabakova (b. 1980). A Bulgarian-born, British-based composer. Her _Suite in the Old Style_ incorporates folk themes (a la Kodaly), Renaissance rhythms, romantic string passagework, unusual instruments (harpsichord -- a la Martinu). Wiki biography (really more a list of her works):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobrinka_Tabakova

This is now available on a well-reviewed recent record on ECM, _String Paths_ (ECM, 2013). (Also outstanding sound: Manfred Eicher was nominated as "Producer of the Year" and this record was one of those cited in the nomination).


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

Klampanis





This is more Jazz/Greek Traditional, but really tasteful. It has one of my favorite guitarist performing, as well. This is how you incorporate the guitar with other stringed instruments.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

I took some time this evening to listen to several of the works of Dutch composer *Joey Roukens* (b. 1982). (Note: SimonMZ in his post above has "Joey Donemus" -- his last name is Roukens; it looks like "Donemus" is Rouken's publisher). Composer's website here:
http://joeyroukens.com/index.html

I listened to his 45-minute Percussion Concerto, performed by Colin Currie and the Sinfonia Rotterdam. I tend to enjoy percussion concertos (and among recent ones, those of Joseph Schwanter, Jennifer Higdon, and Einojuhani Rautavaara). This one is, overall, quite enjoyable. Not as flamboyant or as demanding as Schwantner's. Here's the link to complete performance:




Here's a link that has 11 minutes of it:





One intriguing work of his that I came across was caprice for solo violin entitled "Un Quadro de Yucatan":




This dates from 1999 (composed therefore when he was 17!). Demands extraordinary virtuosity from the violinist.

I also listened to a (16 minute) string quartet of his, entitled _Visions at Sea_, performed by the Rubens Quartet:




This occasionally uses an Ives-like quotation / transmutation of a popular song. I don't find such quotations very effective. (In general, it's not a technique I care much for. Somehow Ives can get away with it, not sure why). The "sea" imagery does not have the rich evocations of a Debussy or a Ravel. Not enough variety in a work of this length.

Finally, I listened to an enjoyable and often striking orchestral work entitled _Out of Control_, premiered by David Robertson and the Royal Concertgebouw. Roukens describes the first excerpt as "a kind of ambient Mahler" while the second uses "pop-like rhythms (not unlike the ones found in electronic dance or house music) are combined with Stravinskian orchestral textures." I would say it's not up to "Stravinskian" standards rhythmically, but is enjoyable enough:





In the biography on his website, his music is described as:



> His output includes orchestral works, ensemble works, chamber music, solo instrumental works and an opera. In his music Roukens strives to move away from modernist ways of thinking in search for a more eclectic and more direct idiom, without reverting to some naive neo-style. In doing so, the composer doesn't shy away from the use of triads, tonal or diatonic harmonies, a regular rhythmic pulse, directness of expression, simplicity, references to popular music and vernacular culture, 'stealing' from the musical heritage of the past and the odd trivial turn. Consequently, in most of his works, Roukens seeks to organically integrate elements from highly diverse influences and aesthetics - including the rhythmic energy of early Stravinsky, the late-Romanticism of Mahler and Sibelius, the ethereal qualities of Debussy, Ravel and Takemitsu, American mavericks like Ives and Nancarrow, post-minimalism (John Adams), but also certain kinds of pop music and jazz. Not because Roukens cannot choose, but because he feels they are all part of the musical air he breathes.


That's a pretty fair description of his sound and catalogue of his influences. Overall, a real talent on the rise.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Alypius said:


> (Note: SimonMZ in his post above has "Joey Donemus" -- his last name is Roukens; it looks like "Donemus" is Rouken's publisher). .


How strange - I can't see how I got my wires crossed there. It appears I wrote that on the Current Listening thread as well.

Thanks for correcting that. Apologies to Mr. Roukens.

And great overview, Alypius!


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Chris Theofanidis - On The Edge Of The Infinite
Francisco Coll - In Extremis
Aleksandr Shymko - Symphony No.2 "Genesis"


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

*Barry Cockroft (b. 1972)* - composer and saxophonist and educator (and author of various textbooks for wind players). He came to my attention thanks to mention by cwarchc on the "Current Listening" thread. Here's Cockroft's biography on his website:
http://www.barrysax.com/about-barry-cockcroft/

It looks like most of his works can be heard on Soundcloud (links are on his website):

The most interesting of his works that I have come across is _Melbourne Sonata_:
http://www.barrysax.com/compositions/melbourne-sonata/

Here's his _Rock Us_ (2012) for 2 soprano saxophones:
http://www.barrysax.com/compositions/rock-us/

Here's his _Ku Ku_ (1996) for solo sax. 





Given the number of contributors around here who are interested in band music, this composer may be of special interest.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

I came across word that a new work by Christopher Theofanidis is being premiered this summer at the Grant Park Music Festival. The work is entitled _Northern Lights_. The blurb describes it this way:



> Inspired by a children's story on the origins of the aurora borealis, this work takes viewers on a spectacular journey to the beautiful and desolate arctic and subarctic, with original music by Grammy-nominated composer Christopher Theofanidis, and awe-inspiring images by astronomer Dr. José Francisco Salgado.


Since some here may live near Chicago, this may be of interest. Here's the link to the Festival.

http://www.grantparkmusicfestival.com

Here's the link to the concert with the premiere:

http://www.grantparkmusicfestival.com/2014-season/northern-lights


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## Rhythm (Nov 2, 2013)

Alypius, Thanks for that ^^. Some additional research on composer Christopher Theofanidis has been posted here .


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Rhythm, Thanks so much for the heads up on this recent Quartet project of Christopher Theofanidis -- and also for the vimeo documentary on the project. T.S. Eliot's _Four Quartets_ is one of my alltime favorite poems. The larger project is an extraordinary collaboration between the various artists and artforms (painting as well as music -- and of course Eliot's poetry). Here's the full work, a piano quintet entitled _At the Still Point_, as performed (together with readings from Eliot's poetry):






It is really an exceptional work.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Starting on the winners of the Gaudeamus International Composers Award that fit the age criteria here:

Regis Campo - Piano Concerto
Kumiko Omura - Ancient Flowers
Takuya Imahori - Piano Concerto "Illusione dell'Acqua Lucente"


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## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

SimonNZ said:


> Starting on the winners of the Gaudeamus International Composers Award that fit the age criteria here:
> 
> Regis Campo - Piano Concerto
> Kumiko Omura - Ancient Flowers
> Takuya Imahori - Piano Concerto "Illusione dell'Acqua Lucente"


Ah, well done, Mr SimonNZ - that's a whole new bunch to me !


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## Rhythm (Nov 2, 2013)

*Continuum | David Virelles*

Another mention of Virelles posted at TC was by TurnaboutVox,  who lists him here; I heard of Virelles just about a year ago.

Follows is an excerpt from a New York Times article in which I've highlighted a sentence, followed by a video excerpt from Virelles's _Continuum_.

*A Melting Pot of Sounds, With Latin Spices*
David Virelles Continuum, at the Village Vanguard
By BEN RATLIFF | February 1, 2013

You might have to contain your need for immediate comprehension when you hear David Virelles's music at the Village Vanguard this week. It won't slot easily into what you know.

There's much in it that is composed and precise, but it comes in episodes that aren't clearly marked or forecast, in great, shifting stacks of musical language. It's got roots in the open-ended jazz of Andrew Hill and Cecil Taylor, in Afro-Cuban rumba, and, in bits and pieces, contemporary classical music; maybe even Bill Evans too.

But cumulatively it sounds apart from all of that. It's not free jazz, but it roams all over the place.​
< excerpt end >


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## zabrez (May 10, 2014)

*Peter Machajdik (b. 1961) (for Namah for strings, and for As the Wind in the Dunes for strings, and for his piano music)
http://www.youtube.com/PeterMachajdik
and a lot of information on http://www.machajdik.de


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

*bump*

Nothing new to add right at this second - just that this thread is manifestly _needed_.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Simon, Thanks for bumping up this thread. I had recommended Tarik O'Regan's _Threshold of Night_ earlier. I've just come across a recent work premiered at the 2010 PROMS, entitled _Latent Manifest_. It's an orchestral work. All of O'Regan's works that I knew of were vocal / choral. So this one is of interest.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Threshold Of Night was one of the most interesting and enjoyable contemporary discs I've purchased recently. I'll be adding Dialogue Of The Elders to the next order I do with Presto:


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Courtesy of pianist/musicologist Ian Pace I've come across marvelous solo piano works by:

Wieland Hoban (b1978)






and Aaron Cassidy (b1976)






(Both on the extra-awesome John11inch youtube page - to paraphrase one commenter: "I don't know what's more amazing - this piece, or that it was uploaded by someone called John11inch with an anime cat avatar")


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## BRHiler (May 3, 2014)

cjvinthechair said:


> Mmmmm....interesting exercise !
> 
> A few 60s in here - Golijov the earliest, I believe in 1960. All composers I have as a disc or a download, & as I'm not really very adventurous, there's nothing too outlandish. Hope a few are of interest.
> 
> Steven Reineke


Went to college with Steve. He was a really nice (still is) guy, and an amazing natural talent. He would go to a movie, come back to the music building and start playing the score from the movie on the piano.

To add to the list, hopefully not doubling cjvinthechair.....

Michael Hersch
Joel Puckett
Steven Bryant
Michael Gandolfi (older than 1970, but still young'ish  )
Samuel Carl Adams (John Adams' son)
Carter Pann


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

dgee said:


> Other than those already mentioned, Hector Parra, Olga Neuwirth, Enno Poppe and Michel van der Aa sprung to mind but a quick google showed Enno and Olga are much older than I thought
> 
> Will follow closely - great thread idea!


I Enjoy Van der Aa in particular as a composer of performance art. I'm a sucker for instrumental playing in conjunction with taped sounds or video, especially when it allows the performer to indulge in a bit of humor and irony, which can make me tolerant of gestures that would seem tactless otherwise. I like Örs Köszeghy's facial twitches as the knocking-sounds on the tape mimick his knocking on the cello:






I lol'd at one point.

I'm curious about his latest works: Sunken Garden and especially the Clarinet Concerto. Apparently the latter has different music for 3 different performers, and I'm wondering how much he tries to reflect his sense of not only the performers' playing styles (and abilities) but also their personalities. I gathered from a Youtube documentary that he collaborated with his first soloist from an early stage, and presumably did so with the others as well.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

*Hilary Hahn, In 27 Pieces (Deutsche Grammophon, 2013)* (2 CDs for the price of one)










Sometimes it's great to be wrong. When Hilary Hahn's latest _In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores_ appeared last winter at local stores, I never even picked it up to look at it. I thought that it might be of the genre of Van Cliburn's _My Favorite Encores_ or Horowitz's _Favorite Encores_. I should have reflected a bit and realized that, of course, Hilary Hahn is not that sort of artist, that she has a long history of being reasonably bold; think of her pairings: Sibelius and Schoenberg, Brahms and Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and Higdon, Barber and Meyer. She has a long history of doing both traditional repertoire and challenging recent works. Well, this new release is truly a fresh and bold effort. I only woke up to the fact when I started reading reviews of the project. Hahn realized that the 'encores' repertoire was sorely lacking contemporary works, that contemporary composers were not composing new "encores." So she commissioned 26 contemporary composers to write a work for violin and piano that would be under 5:00 minutes in length. Let me quote at some length her excellent liner notes. They eloquently articulate the excitement of the project and the experience of a performer learning to inhabit newly composed works:



> "I was intrigued by the future of the genre [of the encore] and how composers might wish to redefine the form. When I pictured a novel set of favorite miniatures catching one-pieces crafted by today's minds-the idea of a commissioned encore project planted itself in my head.
> 
> The problem was that I had no starting point and couldn't anticipate where such an undertaking would lead me. 'Begin anywhere' is a famous nugget of advice from John Cage. I 'began anywhere' multiple times, over the course of several years. One day, it dawned on me that I'd been agonizing over what I was supposed to do, instead of following my instincts. I sat down to revisit contemporary music that had been recommended to me. Parked in front of my computer, I looked up each composer and clicked on links to their repertoire, colleagues, and influences. Mesmerized by the wealth of creativity I found, I listened for hours until the sun started to rise. Uncovering works that I'd never imagined existed was intoxicating. In the months that followed, fueled by tea and chocolate, I search every source I could, devouring sound samples available online. When a piece grabbed me, my breath would catch, and the urge to collaborate with that composer on this project was visceral.
> 
> ...


Given the focus of this thread, some of these composers are of an older generation and not strictly relevant. But let me list them all chronologically. I think it gives an interesting snapshot of contemporary classical (though, of course, they represent Hahn's biases - though her taste is quite wide and open to quite varied modalities):

Einojuhani Rautavaara (b.1928)
Antón García Abril (b.1933)
David Del Tredici (b. 1937)
Valentin Silvestrov (b. 1937)
Gillian Whitehead (b.1941)
Tina Davidson (b. 1942)
Franghiz Ali-Zadeh (b.1947)
Somei Satoh (b.1947)
James Newton Howard (b. 1951)
Elliott Sharp (b. 1951)
Christos Hatzis (b. 1953)
Dun-Ching Lam (b.1954)
David Lang (b.1957)
Paul Moravec (b.1957)
Richard Barrett (b.1959)
Mark-Anthony Turnage (b. 1960)
Michiru Oshima (b. 1961)
Jennifer Higdon (b.1962)
Max Richter (b. 1966)
Kala Ramnath (b. 1967)
Soren Nils Eichberg (b. 1973)
Lera Auerbach (b. 1973)
Avner Dorman (b.1975)
Du Yun (b.1977)
Mason Bates (b.1977)
Jeff Myers (b. 1977)
Nico Muhly (b. 1981)

Some of these are reasonably well-known: Rautavaara and Silvestrov, of course; Paul Moravec is a Pulitzer Prize winner, as is Jennifer Higdon (one of Hahn's former teachers). Several of these have already shown up in this thread: Lera Auerbach, Nico Muhly, David Lang, Avner Dorman. As for individual pieces, I'm still getting accustomed to them. As she herself said, these works are quite varied. Some are immediately accessible (though even these have interesting wrinkles). Some are avant-garde, some are neo-romantic, some are Americana (but with unusual twists and turns), some are Middle-Eastern- or Asian- or classical Indian-inflected. Most are unpredictable. Some are meditative, some are virtuostic. After some 4 listenings, I now enjoy the majority. Several are thrilling. Thus far (and it's still early), several have leaped out: Moravec's _Blue Fiddle_, Rautavaara's _Whispering_, Mason Bates' _Ford's Farm_, Tina Davidson's _Blue Curve of the Earth_.

I should add one comment: Don't ask every piece to be a masterpiece. I read one rather snooty review in the London Times which said: "A few of these 27 encores may well find a place in other violinists' repertoires. But most of them? We'll see." That attitude fails to understand what encouraging contemporary music means. Some listeners have no sense of adventure. They want every work to be some masterpiece. And the only way to guarantee that, of course, is to play or listen only to long-established pieces by long-dead composers. When I buy contemporary composers, I realize that I could end up with something that may not be very good or that may not have a long shelf life, that it may be incomprehensible for a while, even a long while. But I find it a joy to stumble upon something utterly new. I also believe it urgent to support contemporary composers and those who risk performing their works. Well, this is a fine project and hopefully a model for others to follow. So, like I said at the outset, it's great to be wrong.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Elena Mendoza was born in 1973, and one year from now she will premiere her new opera "La ciudad de las mentiras" (The City of Lies) at Teatro Real. She works mainly in Spain and Germany. We can listen to "Gramática de lo indecible" in youtube:


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

A young composer called Elspeth Brooke caught my ear; she had a one act opera premier with the ROH along with a couple of other up and coming composers.


__
https://soundcloud.com/elspeth-brooke%2Fthe-homing-call

A real talent.


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

Matthew Kaner's electro-acoustic piece Organum is a delight. Composed in 2013.


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## Rhythm (Nov 2, 2013)

Jobis said:


> A young composer called Elspeth Brooke caught my ear; she had a one act opera premier with the ROH along with a couple of other up and coming composers.
> 
> 
> __
> ...


I didn't know what to expect when I clicked over to soundcloud to hear the Brooke piece. What is the first sound heard? The oboist's breath intake. Some engineers or producers don't eliminate breaths, and that's a good thing. I liked the piece! Thanks.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Alypius said:


> *Barry Cockroft (b. 1972)* - composer and saxophonist and educator (and author of various textbooks for wind players). He came to my attention thanks to mention by cwarchc on the "Current Listening" thread. Here's Cockroft's biography on his website:
> http://www.barrysax.com/about-barry-cockcroft/
> 
> It looks like most of his works can be heard on Soundcloud (links are on his website):
> ...


I met him a number of years ago, terrific guy!


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Samuel Adams (b. 1985) is the 28-year-old son of American composer John Adams. One of his compositions, _Radial Play_ was just premiered by the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, organized by Carnegie Hall. (It seems to be sparked by the success of the Venezuelan Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra). National Public Radio has a link which allows you to listen to the work in its entirety:
National Public Radio Story on the National Youth Orchestra

According to his website, "He has received commissions from Carnegie Hall, the San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony, ACJW (The Academy, a program of Carnegie Hall, Juilliard, and The Weill Institute of Music) and St. Lawrence String Quartet. Recent highlights include a violin concerto for Anthony Marwood, which had its premiere with the Berkeley Symphony in February 2014. In the spring of 2013, Adams was composer in residence at Spoleto Festival USA, where his String Quartet in Five Movements was premiered by St. Lawrence String Quartet. The work had further performances at Stanford's new Bing Concert Hall in the Fall of 2013. In April 2013, his Tension Studies were presented as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Brooklyn Festival and, in the following November, were released on post-classical duo The Living Earth Show's first full-length album, High Art. This fall, his Drift and Providence, a work co-commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony and New World Symphony, will be featured as part of the San Francisco Symphony's national tour."


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## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

Very pleased to see this thread still up & running - looked at my recent 'acquisitions' to see who might qualify, & though there are plenty of 1960s birthdays, the latest of whom is Tuomas Kantelinen in '69, the only one later than '70 I've encountered (& enjoyed) recently is Gabriela Frank from USA.
In case anyone's at a loose end & fancies finding out about some '60s composers anyway, the others are Leonardo Coral(MEX), Mats Larsson Gothe(SWE), Urmas Sisask(EST) & Nebojsa Zivkovic(SER/GER).


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Fascinating work I stumbled on last night:

Tomi Räisänen - Guitar Concerto "Sea Of Tranquility

I'll be investigating more of this composer tonight

also: slightly outside the age restriction (b.1964), but also fascinating:

Osmo Tapio Raihala - Seurat I


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## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

Composer I've been meaning to suggest here (don't think I've done so already - lose track in my old age !) is Crt Sojar Voglar from Slovenia; born '76, so qualifies easily enough !
Might also introduce some of you to the excellent YT Channel most of his work is on, dedicated to Slovenian composers (there are also ones, to my knowledge, for Dutch, Serbian & Romanian composers, plus others I've no doubt forgotten, if anyone would like the links).
This is his euphonium concerto


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

I enjoyed this disk featuring Mason Bates and Anna Clyne, composers-in-residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

An interesting interview with Clyne concerning "Night Ferry," which appears on the album, and her work more generally:

http://theclassicalreview.com/2012/...rry-set-to-sail-after-a-long-creative-voyage/


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## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

Blancrocher said:


> View attachment 48861
> 
> 
> I enjoyed this disk featuring Mason Bates and Anna Clyne, composers-in-residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
> ...


Nice idea - will be trying that; thank you !


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## wandelweisering (Aug 5, 2014)

I can't help mentioning here the Wandelweiser composers, even though only some of them are actually young (for instance: Sam Sfirri, b. 1987). I warmly recommend them if any of you are passionate about John Cage's later works or about Feldman, Lucier or minimalists like Tom Johnson; otherwise, they might seem too austere (their works are contemplative and not much else) and, by the way, they also release drone, field recordings, electroacoustic improvisations and such. Antoine Beuger and Michael Pisaro are the most prolific lately. Eva-Maria Houben is more accessible, sometimes closer to impressionism. Radu Malfatti has a lot of austere pieces. And there are many other composers around them, with approaches that are more varied than they seem at first. "West Coast Soundings" and "Wandelweiser und so weiter" are two great compilations, but the best starting point would be checking some live performances on Youtube.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Blancrocher said:


> View attachment 48861
> I enjoyed this disk featuring Mason Bates and Anna Clyne, composers-in-residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra...


Speaking of Mason Bates: His contribution to Hilary Hahn's _In 27 Pieces_ caught my ear (see my post on it above). And I began following up on his work. Check out:

*Mason Bates, Stereo Is King (Innova, 2014)*










Also:

*Mason Bates, Digital Loom (MSR Classics, 2009)*










Let me add that this is one of my favorite threads on TC. I hope it continues to thrive.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Blancrocher, Thanks for the heads up on Anna Clyne. Your notice has got me listening to clips from her *Blue Moth (Tzadik, 2012).* Tzadik is John Zorn's label, which often puts out pretty adventurous stuff -- but also puts out so much that it is hard to sort through it all. Here's the cover:


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## Tayfun (Aug 17, 2014)

I can readily suggest Fazil Say who is a Turkish pianist and composer. I put some examples of his performance via youtube link below


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Recommending Matthias Pintscher (born 1971) to anyone who has not yet heard his music!






And Isabel Mundry (born 1963)!


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

I was playing that piece by Isabel Mundry just a couple of days ago, and highly recommend the disc it comes from:


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## Guest (Nov 18, 2014)

Jobis said:


> Matthew Kaner's electro-acoustic piece Organum is a delight. Composed in 2013.


I'm probably going to regret pointing this out (though possibly I would also regret not pointing it out, too--I'm stuck!!), but _Organum,_ whatever else it may be, is not an electroacoustic piece. It's an instrumental piece, with some keyboard accessed sound files.


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

some guy said:


> I'm probably going to regret pointing this out (though possibly I would also regret not pointing it out, too--I'm stuck!!), but _Organum,_ whatever else it may be, is not an electroacoustic piece. It's an instrumental piece, with some keyboard accessed sound files.


Thank you, I must admit I wasn't aware of the distinction. :tiphat:


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2014)

Yeah, it's an odd word. Easy to think that the "acoustic" part of it refers to acoustical instruments. I've even seen posts where mixed pieces were referred to as "electroacoustic" because there were live instruments involved.

It refers to acoustics. And the whole word refers to the process of making electrons sound.

Which is pretty boring, I guess. I'm the kind of person who wants "psychoacoustic" to mean something like "a bunch of loonies yelling at each other."


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

some guy said:


> Yeah, it's an odd word. Easy to think that the "acoustic" part of it refers to acoustical instruments. I've even seen posts where mixed pieces were referred to as "electroacoustic" because there were live instruments involved.


What are mixed pieces (for instruments/performers and tape, or instruments/performers and electronics) called, then? I'm confused too.


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2014)

I don't know of any term for them aside from mixed pieces.

That's what Christian Clozier calls them, and if anyone knows, he should.

Agreed that it's confusing, though. It seems so natural. Electroacoustic seems like it could/should mean a mix of electronics and acoustic instruments. Except that that's not what electroacoustics refers to. Electroacoustic music is music that is either recorded sounds (often manipulated electronically) or electronically produced sounds (also often altered electronically as well) or, most frequently, a combination of both. As the umbrella term, it includes live electronics, eai (of course), computer music (including laptops, natch), acousmatics, musique concrete, electronic music. With any of these things, there can also be, and often are, live acoustic instruments, which in turn can be electronically altered as well.

But I'd much rather that this be reckoned with:

Emmanuelle Gibello. 



Adam Stansbie.

__
https://soundcloud.com/
Anna Clyne. 



Natasha Barrett. 



Diana Simpson Salazar. 



Michael Boyd. http://www.societyofcomposers.org/members/MichaelBoyd/
Simon Steen-Andersen. 



eRikm.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Bumping this thread for the Post 1950 list and discussion. If we are lacking 21st century/more recent music at any point other members have given great recommendations in this thread.


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## Guest (May 2, 2015)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Bumping this thread for the Post 1950 list and discussion. If we are lacking 21st century/more recent music at any point other members have given great recommendations in this thread.


I don't think we're lacking more recent music knowledge necessary for the list. I think it's more the fact that we're still fairly early in the process and Stockhausen, Cage, Boulez, Nono, Berio, Messiaen, Ligeti, Xenakis, etc are more "foundational" - it's our post-1950 equivalent of all the other lists that start right away with Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Bach, etc... Just as those lists expanded in scope further down the list, so will this one (or so I hope). I'm still wrapping up the process of getting signature works in their proper places before I can think too hard about the fantastic oeuvres of Furrer, Finnissy, Rihm, Eotvos, Lachenmann, Manoury, Mahnkopf, Posadas, and the list goes on and on and on...

Edit: ...Pintscher, Gadenstatter, Jarrell, Hosokawa, Mantovani, Klaus Lang, Holliger, Widmann, etc etc ad nauseum...let's face it. This list isn't going to include it all no matter what :/


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## Guest (May 4, 2016)

Gentle bump then.


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## Guest (May 4, 2016)

Interesting. I've delved into loads of newer composers since my last post. I used to have to cite dudes born in the '50s and '60s to make a really sizable but now my '70s and '80s list alone is plenty substantial


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

Young generations? They love "da beat"!

Enough sarcastic comments for today...


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Lets have 2 threads on the newest music! I started to work my way through this list...
http://http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/vote-q2-musics-2016-new-music-countdown/
Lisa Bielawa was nice to hear


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> Lets have 2 threads on the newest music! I started to work my way through this list...
> http://http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/vote-q2-musics-2016-new-music-countdown/
> Lisa Bielawa was nice to hear


Link does not work K.J


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Thanks for pointing that out. It's the same as listed in the 21st century thread.

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


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