# Contemporary classical music - electronic music worh listening to?



## jonatan (May 6, 2016)

Messian used electonic music in his Turangalila symphonie, electronic music emerged in the labs of classical music and only later it moved to the popular music. So, this is quite prominent trend of contemporary classical music. My question is - what academic/classical contemporary composers are worth listening to and what are most recognized by the academic/classical standards (not by money or standards of popular music). Now I feel that after listening to many of acoustic music I need to move on and experience something more but some advice would be good on my path forward.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

I am somewhat conflicted on electronic music in classical.

My tasted in classical is almost entirely form the mid 20th century to the present era. So, electronic music would obviously be part of that time period. 

And I am a fan of synthesizers when used in other genres, like: prog (Genesis, YES, PFM, Banco, Universe Zero, etc), the German School and its offshoots (Tangerine Dream, Conrad Schnitzler, Klaus Schulz, Cluster, etc), and fusion (Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jean Luc Ponty, Iceberg, Weather Report, etc).

But for some reason, I have not warmed up to electronic instruments when used in classical. I want my classical to be performed with acoustic instruments only. 

I will definitely be keeping an eye on this thread and listening to any recommendations that are posted.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

My favourite is Murail's _L'Esprit des Dunes_ (1994).

Includes a chamber orchestra, and it's a very cinematic piece.
http://www.tristanmurail.com/en/oeuvre-fiche.php?cotage=27531


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

The beef I have with a lot of the electronic stuff is not the sounds or technology but the music being composer for these machines. I just haven't heard much that I find very interesting to listen to. I could never get into groups like Tangerine Dream either. It's like musical wallpaper to my ears. And many times when it's blended with acoustic instruments it sounds superfluous.


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

A lot of music I listen to lately seems to be spiced with electronic effects. Murail, Saariaho, Arne Henrickson, Wadada, etc. It's a positive when used to enhance the music, and its acoustical qualities, and not be the sound of the music itself.


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## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

In 2017 I facilitated a TC Top 50 Recommended Electronic Works List. Here were the results:

1. Stockhausen: Kontakte
2. Boulez: Répons
3. Harvey: Mortuos plango, vivos voco
4. Varèse: Déserts 
5. Stockhausen: Gesang der Jünglinge 
6. Lucier: I Am Sitting in a Room
7. Boulez: Anthèmes II
8. Reich: Different Trains
9. Nono: La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura
10. Boulez: ...explosante-fixe...
11. Saariaho: Lichtbogen 
12. Murail: Désintégrations
13. Varèse: Poème électronique
14. Schaeffer & Henry: Symphonie pour un homme seul
15. Cage: Roaratorio, An Irish Circus on Finnegans Wake
16. Marshall: Three Penitential Visions
17. Nono: Como una ola de fuerza y luz
18. Chin: Xi
19. Berio: Laborintus II
20. Stockhausen: Cosmic Pulses
21. Stockhausen: Oktophonie
22. Xenakis: La Légende d'Eer
23. Parmegiani: De natura sonorum
24. Haas: String Quartet #7
25. Bryars: Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet 
26. Babbitt: Philomel
27. Saariaho: Nymphéa (Jardin secret III)
28. Romitelli: An Index of Metals
29. Xenakis: Persepolis
30. Berio: Visage
31. Ferrari: Petite symphonie intuitive pour un paysage de printemps
32. Nono: Prometeo
33. Andre: ...als... II
34. Reich: Come Out
35. Bayle: Erosphère
36. Neuwirth: Lost Highway
37. Dhomont: Forêt profonde
38. Xenakis: Kraanerg
39. Radulescu: String Quartet #4, op. 33 "infinite to be cannot be infinite, infinite anti-be could be infinite"
40. Ligeti: Artikulation
41. Saariaho: Six Japanese Gardens
42. Murail: Winter Fragments
43. Fujikura: Sparking Orbit
44. Stone: Shing kee
45. Mitterer: coloured noise
46. Haas: …und…
47. Feldman: Three Voices
48. Stockhausen: Hymnen
49. Lansky: Ride
50. Stockhausen: Helikopter-Streichquartett (Helicopter String Quartet)

These are the absolute essentials, and a list of honorable mentions from this project can be found here.


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

I am a fan of Ligeti’s electronic work, but lesser talents are too easily amused by the sound of technology. Much of Stockhausen’s late work is marred by endless stretches of uninspired synthetic droning.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

starthrower said:


> I could never get into groups like Tangerine Dream either. It's like musical wallpaper to my ears.


There have been many, many changes in the line-up of Tangerine Dream and along with it the music changed as well.
A lot of their music is fluff, but in the 70s they were a great, pioneering synth group. It's not classical/avantgarde but not poppy synth music either (like J.M. Jarre). It's somewhere in between, which is perfect to me. What stands the test of time is Rubycon Part 1 and a few other pieces. The rest will be forgotten. Anyway, that was a little off topic. Carry on.


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## 50iL (Apr 8, 2019)

Check Xenakis for sure, dude's a legend


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Don't think of it as "electronic music". Rather, embark on a sonic adventure: an opportunity to experience new sounds and sound combinations and sound forms and forms of sound! Some call it "noise music", which I do not take as a derogatory term. And some of the best of these sonic adventures come from outside what we think of as the "classical" world. 

Of course, you may not like everything you hear, just as you probably didn't enjoy every vacation trip you took. Still, they are all adventures. Repeat the ones you like, don't bother going back to those which disinterest you. Sometimes life is simple. But since there is so much to experience, you may never have to return to prior sonic adventures. Just keep moving forward. After all, this is supposed to be a "fun" hobby, this activity of listening to music. You are free to pepper in old well-favored "classics" whenever you want. But don't be shy about experimenting either. Much to explore!

So … start listening. Portamento's list above is a good place to start. But it's only a start. Surely you'll move past that. At least, I hope so.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Simon Moon said:


> I am somewhat conflicted on electronic music in classical.
> 
> My tasted in classical is almost entirely form the mid 20th century to the present era. So, electronic music would obviously be part of that time period.
> 
> ...


It's simply not used for a pleasant effect. Electronics in classical is mostly about being eerie, ethereal or something besides beautiful in the way the orchestra is beautiful. Stockhausen is an exception where he was a real synthesist who spent time understanding the instrument. Luening electronic music also sounds good because he was a talented and musical composer.

There is a ton of computer music out there composed by academics but it's the most obscure music on the planet. More obscure than music from any small tribe in Africa or Oceania.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Not mentioned : Morton Subotnick, with 'Silver Apples of the Moon' etc. 
Very nice and approachable, at times bordering to popular music.


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## Bluecrab (Jun 24, 2014)

joen_cph said:


> Not mentioned : Morten Subotnick, with 'Silver Apples of the Moon' etc.


Two more contemporary American composers who are active in this genre are Noah Creshevsky and Neil Rolnick. Scott Johnson also makes frequent use of electronics in his music.


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## BabyGiraffe (Feb 24, 2017)

joen_cph said:


> Not mentioned : Morton Subotnick, with 'Silver Apples of the Moon' etc.
> Very nice and approachable, at times bordering to popular music.


Nice joke. There is nothing approachable or "pop" in listening to literally random modular bleeps.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I wasn't joking. With a couple of listenings, it's often very approachable, IMO. And much more than say some works by Stockhausen or Xenakis. But prog-rock or the alternative scene is probably a better comparison.

for example at 19:30 or 11:20. Pretty funky.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

I like many of the works on Portamento's list, but noticed there is no Milton Babbitt.

I suggest these recordings:

[URL="https://www.amazon.com/Varese-Album-Edgar/dp/B000RMJ5BG/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=The+Varese+album&qid=1555075399&s=music&sr=1-2-spell"]


[/URL]


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## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

millionrainbows said:


> I like many of the works on Portamento's list, but noticed there is no Milton Babbitt.





Portamento said:


> 1. Stockhausen: Kontakte
> 2. Boulez: Répons
> 3. Harvey: Mortuos plango, vivos voco
> 4. Varèse: Déserts
> ...


_Reflections_ and _Visitation and Prayer_ were also nominated, though with limited success.


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

I am a pure acoustic man, just have no liking at all for electronic, in fact there was a thread eight or so years ago “do you consider the computer a musical instrument” that got people going and spawned an argument or two. But if you guys like it that’s fine. :tiphat:


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## Steerpike (Dec 29, 2018)

DeepR said:


> There have been many, many changes in the line-up of Tangerine Dream and along with it the music changed as well.
> A lot of their music is fluff, but in the 70s they were a great, pioneering synth group. It's not classical/avantgarde but not poppy synth music either (like J.M. Jarre). It's somewhere in between, which is perfect to me. What stands the test of time is Rubycon Part 1 and a few other pieces. The rest will be forgotten. Anyway, that was a little off topic. Carry on.


It took me a while to get into, but I too like Rubycon (both parts) and also Ricochet. You're probably right to suggest it's off topic, but I think the music of Tangerine Dream probably has just as much in common with modern classical as it does with the world of Rock and Pop.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Tangerine Dream is at least going in the right direction, as is Synergy, some of Klaus Schulze. There are others, some of the lowercase sound artists, but it's like opposite of the harsh noise electronic stuff in that list. It's kind of like electronic wallpaper.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

It's wallpaper because it sounds better?


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Portamento said:


> _Reflections_ and _Visitation and Prayer_ were also nominated, though with limited success.


Oh, sorry, Portamento, I overlooked that. Another use of the Princeton/RCA synthesizer is Charles Wuourinen's _Time's Encomium.
_


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

http://www.regenerativemusic.net


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I'd like to invite all of you to participate in the new Contemporary Music Listening Thread. Thanks!

We could use some electronic music on the board.


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