# Recommend Mahler-esque modern composer?



## LOLWUT (Oct 12, 2016)

Does anybody know of a modern composer, whose music is firmly tonal, in a style similar to Mahler's, whose work you find promising? Music that is emotional, not confusing and eerie like most modern music tries to be.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Mahler-esque? I'm not sure what that means but Shostakovich was sometimes said to be Mahler-esque. And I often think that Pettersson follows a Mahlerian view of the symphony. Both are their own people, of course, and neither could be mistaken for Mahler. But then if it sounds like someone else then it is unlikely to be worth hearing. Schoenberg's Gurrelieder is a work that seems to lead directly from Mahler but of course he was en route to somewhere very different and Gurrelieder is better seen as the moment the world changed.


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## Bayreuth (Jan 20, 2015)

Tough question. Maybe Zemlinsky??


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## Medtnaculus (May 13, 2015)

Perhaps Joseph Marx? His Eine Herbstsymphonie is one of the grandest works I've ever heard.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Marcel Tyberg's 3rd symphony is said to be Bruckner-esqsue, but I hear Mahler in a lot of it.


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

Why not give Alban Berg's "Three Pieces for Orchestra" (Drei Orchesterstücke) Op. 6 a listen? Berg was a fervent admirer of Mahler and a student of his scores (if never his pupil). The "Three Pieces for Orchestra" is greatly influenced by Mahler's writing (especially the 9th symphony), if the tonality is less orthodox.

Try them, try them, and you may...


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Shostakovich is the only one I can think of. His Fourth symphony is the most "Mahler-like".


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

By "modern" do you mean "modernist"/20th century, or are you asking for a contemporary composer that might be deemed as Mahler-esque?


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I have come to the conclusion that this search for a neo-<fill-in-name> composer is a futile exercise no matter whether it be Mahler, Sibelius (as in another thread) or anyone else. These composers had very unique voices which are a result of their time, environment and personal circumstances and so any attempt to emulate them would be superficial at best. The closest that I have encountered to someone who is Mahler-esque is Hans Rott and, while he was a contemporary of Mahler, his one complete work actually predated Mahler's symphonies.


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## motoboy (May 19, 2008)

I think we're all forgetting John Williams.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

The prologue of Wagner's Gotterdammerung puts me very much in mind of Mahler orchestral song cycle.

I love Mahler and he was originally recommended to me based on my loving Gorecki's symphony of sorrowful songs, so you might like that too.

and finally, I would recommend Richard Strauss' orchestral songs.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Becca said:


> I have come to the conclusion that this search for a neo-<fill-in-name> composer is a futile exercise no matter whether it be Mahler, Sibelius (as in another thread) or anyone else. These composers had very unique voices which are a result of their time, environment and personal circumstances and so any attempt to emulate them would be superficial at best. The closest that I have encountered to someone who is Mahler-esque is Hans Rott and, while he was a contemporary of Mahler, his one complete work actually predated Mahler's symphonies.


Yes, I've listened to a lot of "modern" music - which we might as well define here as post-Mahler - and I can't say I've ever heard anything that sounds like Mahler.
Composers like Zemlinsky, Berg, et al, to be honest as a Mahler fan I can take or leave.
There are more recent works that are _nods_ to Mahler, like Adams's _Harmonielehre_, Berio's _Sinfonia_, or Edward Gregson's _Dream Song_, that I enjoy not just for those references but for their own qualities too, but someone who doesn't trust modern music might not like any of those.
Beyond that, I might say well, perhaps some of things that Mahler's music does for me can be found in works like Sculthorpe's _Earth Cry_, or John Luther Adams's _Become Ocean_, or Laura Karpman's _Ask Your Mama_ - but any other Mahler fan might look askance and wonder what I'd been drinking. And again, someone who's not keen on modern music might not like them anyway.


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## Botec (Jan 14, 2011)

Willem Pijper's Symphony No 1 of 1917 is conscious imitation.


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## motoboy (May 19, 2008)

Botec said:


> Willem Pijper's Symphony No 1 of 1917 is conscious imitation.


I can't find a CD if this. The youtube vid is interesting...


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

motoboy said:


> I can't find a CD if this. The youtube vid is interesting...


There isn't any CD of it, I doubt it the work even exist.


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## Friendlyneighbourhood (Oct 8, 2016)

motoboy said:


> I think we're all forgetting John Williams.


shhhhhh, shhhhhh


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## Friendlyneighbourhood (Oct 8, 2016)

Pugg said:


> There isn't any CD of it, I doubt it the work even exist.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Friendlyneighbourhood said:


>


Without you I am lost!


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## Friendlyneighbourhood (Oct 8, 2016)

Pugg said:


> Without you I am lost!


Have you ever heard of google? it might be a good investment for you honey! :kiss:


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Mahler was really sui generis.

One composer who writes in a sweeping Romantic style is Rautavaara, for example his third symphony: 




This is more like Brucker than Mahler but maybe it fits the bill.


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## Truckload (Feb 15, 2012)

Friendlyneighbourhood said:


>


This is a lovely work, and I am very glad you posted it. I had never heard this, and I love it. Thank you.

I wonder what it is about Mahler that the OP most admires? The harmonic language? Masterful writing for very large orchestra? Melodic style? Very large scale use of the symphonic form? Emotionalism and sometimes wildly contrasting moods?

Someone previously mentioned Richard Strauss which I would agree is probably the closest "big name" composer considering all elements of Mahler's music, even closer than Bruckner, but Strauss was only very slightly more modern that Mahler. I am guessing that the OP is hoping for someone currently living and writing orchestral music. I would further guess that the most important factor for the OP is the harmonic language, masterful orchestration and sometimes "quirky" melodies of Mahler. But just a guess. Anyone know of someone like that?


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## Truckload (Feb 15, 2012)

isorhythm said:


> Mahler was really sui generis.
> 
> One composer who writes in a sweeping Romantic style is Rautavaara, for example his third symphony:
> 
> ...


Excellent suggestion. I just looked him up to see if he is still writing, and found that he passed away July 27, 2016.


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

Try Casella's symphonies.






Bloch's early Symphony in C sharp minor


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I remember once reading the following quip...

Richard Strauss, who died in 1949, was the last great 19th century composer
Gustav Mahler, who died in 1910, was the first great 20th century composer

There is more than a bit of truth in that!!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Friendlyneighbourhood said:


> Have you ever heard of google? it might be a good investment for you honey! :kiss:


Even a human makes mistakes, and I am the first admitting it.


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## jimsumner (Jul 7, 2013)

What a curious definition we have of "modern." A Wagner opera that was completed the same year Custer was defeated at the Little Big Horn ? A Bloch symphony from 1903, the year that Cy Young led the majors with 23 wins? 

Some good answers here. Rautavaara or Pettersson. Definitely Shostakovich for stylistic similarities, although he's been dead for over 40 years, which doesn't scream "modern" to me. At least, as I interpret the word.


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## Jerry (Oct 17, 2016)

Medtnaculus said:


> Perhaps Joseph Marx? His Eine Herbstsymphonie is one of the grandest works I've ever heard.


Wow - this is magnificent!

I've been into classical music for 45 years, but don't recall even a mention or whisper of this music.
Fabulous - thanks so much for the tip! (What a fabulous forum this is - I'm new here!)

Huge, sweeping melodies - immense scale - it is indeed reminiscent of Mahler! ... and Richard Strauss.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I just listened to the Marx _Herbstsymphonie_ with high hopes and, to be honest, it doesn't sound at all like Mahler, more like a pastiche of Frederick Delius and Richard Strauss, and not the best parts either. Chacun à son gout!


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## Jerry (Oct 17, 2016)

Ah well. You can't please everyone.


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## Medtnaculus (May 13, 2015)

Jerry said:


> Wow - this is magnificent!
> 
> I've been into classical music for 45 years, but don't recall even a mention or whisper of this music.
> Fabulous - thanks so much for the tip! (What a fabulous forum this is - I'm new here!)
> ...


Glad you enjoyed it! Here's hoping more of his stuff is recorded in future.


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

I second *Casella*. I love his first and second symphony. These are beautiful, emotional, seriously underrated works. The Bloch in C Sharp is also excellent.

Also, this might help:
http://www.talkclassical.com/41973-if-you-like-mahler.html?highlight=if+you+like+mahler


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