# when was the last time you were blown away by a classical composer?



## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

On ars subtilior dawn of renaissance cd on harmonia mundi, i discover* John Dunstable *full potencial sure i heard like 3 piece of is music but this one blew me away, the power of his vocal music stun me
like Thomas Tallis done whit Spem in alium, the piece was call salve scema sanctitatis.Than another composer that stun me whit his geneous was *Johannes ockenghem *in the franco-flemish school era is requiem was sublime.

I may investigate more of these two since the are keyplayer in there own respective era.
Than if someone would like to mention one of John Dunstable finnest cd and ockenghem 
true gem, i would love to hear your comment?

So who blew you away recently and you said wow ,never though this guy was that good until...?

:tiphat: have a nice day


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

There's a topic like this called : _What pieces have blown you away_..... all ready somewhere.


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## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

Yes i though of this but this is about Classical composer you re-discover or seen there potencial like never before not an individual piece specifically Pugg , perhaps i was ain't clear enough, sorry


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

Actually Pugg is correct. I have actually answered that question many times in that other thread.

The problem is that thread has strayed from the intent of the OP. I have hesitated to say anything about it because I know that members would have been offended by my criticism. What has happened is that members would cite new recordings of works they were already familiar with that had some exciting new performance. A person may have twenty recordings of the Mahler _Fifth_ and he just got a new recording where the performance blew his socks off. No the point of the OP was for a member who heard the Mahler _Fifth_ for the first time and it blew his socks off.

I remember mentioning that I never cared for the Schubert _Unfinished_. I then performed it and it blew me away. I remember all of the grief I took for that one. I remember one member saying how he could not understand how a person could not understand the Schubert _Unfinished_ until he performed it.

I actually understand where you are coming from. What will probably happen is that the same thing will occur here as well.


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## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

Ockay i understand please, move this post to piece that blowen you away or erased it, i did a mistake posting here opening a new tread i guess.Perhaps* classical composers you re-discover *would have been a more appropriated title and more clear for TC menbers, more suitable?


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

deprofundis said:


> Ockay i understand please, move this post to piece that blowen you away or erased it, i did a mistake posting here opening a new tread i guess.Perhaps* classical composers you re-discover *would have been a more appropriated title and more clear for TC menbers, more suitable?


I swear to the God I don't believe in, *deprofundis* you are one of my favorite people on this forum!!!

But also let me answer your question. There have been a few that have blown me away recently... or I should say, produced great excitement at the thought of being able to explore their music:

Felix Weingartner

Alfredo Casella

and

Richard Wetz


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Well, John Harbison squared off against me with a howitzer once, but I ducked in time.


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## Guest (Feb 27, 2016)

MarkW said:


> Well, John Harbison squared off against me with a howitzer once, but I ducked in time.


Ugh, don't remind me. All I'll say is Aaron Cassidy and a 2600 watt leaf blower.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

The only one I can think of recently is Frederick Delius. I used to nearly dislike his music. It just sort of bored me, but then I hear a work called "Eventyr (Once Upon a Time)." It was so different from what I'd heard before by the same composer I couldn't believe it. Maybe the time was finally right.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Over the last month, right up until this very day, I have fallen in love with Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony.

I had no idea such brilliant music was out there for so many years and I never got around to experiencing it before.

Completely blown away by the great genius that was Dmitri Shostakovich in his Fourth Symphony.

By the way, he was practically forced to denounce it and called it an inferior effort, but "liked" certain sections of it.

What a shame that was. The Fourth Symphony just may be his finest symphonic effort.


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## PJaye (May 22, 2015)

Heinrich Biber- since about a month ago. I don't have a lot of his music yet. In fact I only have the mystery sonatas, but I’m kind of hesitant to get more just yet because I’m still trying to let this work sink in, while listening to other composers as well. The mystery sonatas are composed for the violin in 16 – yes, 16 different tunings. That’s why the violin sounded different to me before I finally read about the recording and realized why. I kind of resist my own enthusiasm when I like someone this much right away because I know that getting acquainted with the music phase can be sort of like an infatuation. You have to let things sink in to have a more well rounded perspective. At least I feel that way. 
Anyway, I have, and I still think he’ll be up there among my favorite composers. That could change after hearing more -I don’t know. It’s not just the tunings. He does things –sort of lilting stop and start passages -some of it like dances- that merge into virtuosic flurries of notes, and other stylistic nuances that are so unique. I‘m sure looking forward to hearing more of him. Probably pick up a few more cds next weekend. The mystery sonatas are so called because they’re based on the rosary mysteries and the related meditative procession of the 15 stations of the cross. I’m not part of any organized religion –though I’m very interested in religion and spirituality. That said, listening to this work tends to take my mind to completely unrelated and various places as any music might.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

​This piece, unbelievable beautiful :tiphat:


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Alessandro Striggio. Specifically, Ecce beatam lucem and Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno.

The latter influenced Tallis to compose Spem in alium, so I'd suggest the OP give it a try.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

The experience that comes to mind goes back about two years, but it was so vivid I'll mention it. I bought the Mackerras box set of Janacek operas. I was familiar with the Sinfonietta, Glagolitic Mass, and quartets, but nothing prepared me for the wonder of these works.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

The last new pieces for me, to have that effect were Mozart Piano Concertos 19 and 23, and many of the set of 30 keyboard Sonatas by Sebastian De Albero.

And a fresh recording, Paavo Jarvi, of Schumann 3 helped to make that work feel new to me.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

I would say within the last few weeks when I started bother about Gösta Nystroem.


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## WolfgangRising (Feb 28, 2016)

Sloe said:


> I would say within the last few weeks when I started bother about Gösta Nystroem.


Will give it a listen...


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

WolfgangRising said:


> Will give it a listen...


He was a fine composer.

I think I got blown away or at least happy to discover good music by Niels Wilhelm Gade today.
Blown away is such a strong word.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Just five minutes ago...finished listening to the Franz Schmidt Fourth Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta. Completely swept away by this last great example of German (Viennese) Romanticism, written in 1933.


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

hpowders said:


> Just five minutes ago...finished listening to the Franz Schmidt Fourth Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta. Completely swept away by this last great example of German (Viennese) Romanticism, written in 1933.


I've listened to this _many_ times now, I like it but it doesn't quite grab me like Mahler, Sibelius, Bruckner and others. I think I know why, I think the work is fragmented, there is some underlying discontinuity.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Klassic said:


> I've listened to this _many_ times now, I like it but it doesn't quite grab me like Mahler, Sibelius, Bruckner and others. I think I know why, I think the work is fragmented, there is some underlying discontinuity.


The exact opposite, actually. The whole work is unified by the motifs of the trumpet theme from the beginning.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Klassic said:


> I've listened to this _many_ times now, I like it but it doesn't quite grab me like Mahler, Sibelius, Bruckner and others. I think I know why, I think the work is fragmented, there is some underlying discontinuity.


I agree in the sense that the last movement is a bit of a comedown, inspiration-wise, but the hauntingly beautiful trumpet solo, the entire first movement after that and the slow movement that follows and the reprise of the opening trumpet solo at the symphony's end are all first rate.


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

wrong thread! --------------


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

Mahlerian said:


> The exact opposite, actually. The whole work is unified by the motifs of the trumpet theme from the beginning.


Yes but to repeat the theme and vary the theme do not necessarily make for unity, there are many things that happen in between.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Expanding knowledge of music.*

Klassic,

It appears that you do not understand the spirit of this thread.

The purpose of this thread and the other that is similar to it, http://www.talkclassical.com/30292-pieces-have-blown-you.html, is so members can cite their visceral reactions to new works they have just discovered. It does not have to be a contemporary work. It could be an older work or composer we have just heard of for the first time. I recently submitted a post about Thomas Augustine Arne in the other thread. A wonderful Baroque compose that heretofore I was unfamiliar with.

These are two of my favorite threads. As a result I have been exposed to some great music. They have expanded my knowledge of music, which is the main reason many of us participate in this forum.

If one wants to debate the merits of our choices, they should do it else ware.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Music by Ikannis Xenakis generally blows me away. I remain grateful that Xenakis himself was not blown away by the exploding shell that gravely wounded his face during the December 1944 conflict between Greek resistance forces and the British army whose goal was to restore the Greek monarchy. Xenakis survived seriously scarred, and lost his left eye.


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## znapschatz (Feb 28, 2016)

hpowders said:


> Over the last month, right up until this very day, I have fallen in love with Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony.
> 
> I had no idea such brilliant music was out there for so many years and I never got around to experiencing it before.
> 
> ...


Exactly my situation. It was sometime in late January I first heard the Shostakovich #4 and have been binging on it since (along with #8, another new experience.) Very moving and expressive. How sad his career was spent in such a shadow.


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## brucknerian (Dec 27, 2013)

Definitely Glassworks by Philip Glass. It energises me, which isn't something music usually does. I literally feel more awake after listening to this.


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## TumultuousHair (Mar 13, 2016)

I was recently blown into intergalactic space by Berlioz's "Les Troyes". I will promptly update you when I've returned to earth.


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