# Top 5 Post 1950 Works



## Guest (Jan 20, 2016)

Inspired by the recent Top-5 Thread, I'd like to know your top-5 post 1950 works in order to discover favorites and increase my exposure to this time period. 

But you can include opera, string quartets, symphonies, or any substantial work. 

I know there's a top 20 thread but I prefer smaller lists!


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

*Top Five:*

*Shostakovich:* Symphonies nos. X & XIII.
*Britten:* War Requiem.
*Weinberg:* Symphony no. VI & Cello Concerto.
*Martinu:* Opera "The Greek Passion."
*Tubin:* Symphony no. VIII.

*Worth Serious Consideration:
*
*Kabalevsky:* Cello Concerto no. II.
*Myaskovsky:* Symphony no. XXVII.
*Messiaen:* Illuminations of the Beyond.
*David Diamond:* String Quartet no. IV.
*Benjamin Frankel:* Violin Concerto "In Memory of the Six Million."
*Leonard Bernstein:* West Side Story.
*George Lloyd:* Symphonies nos. VIII & XI.
*Boris Lyatoshynsky:* Symphony no. III.
*Heitor Villa-Lobos:* Floresta do Amazonas.
*Khachaturian:* Spartacus (the whole ballet, orig. version).
*Allan Pettersson:* Symphony no. VII.
*Per Nørgård: *Symphony no. III.
*Samuel Barber:* Opera "Vanessa."
*Daniel Catan:* Opera "Florencia en el Amazonas."
*Walton:* Symphony no. II.
*Kenneth Leighton:* Cello Concerto.
*Poulenc:* Opera "Dialogues des Carmélites."


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

Adams: The Dharma at Big Sur
Glass: Einstein on the Beach
Grisey: Les espaces acoustiques
Ligeti: Études
Reich: Music for 18 Musicians

Interestingly, there is a majority of minimalist/post-minimalist works in my top 5 while there are none in my "honorable mentions" (which likely comprises of pieces by Messiaen, Boulez, Furrer, Haas, Saariaho, Chin, more Ligeti, and JL Adams as well as Finzi and Martinu if only by a technicality).


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## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

Witold Lutosławski: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4
György Ligeti: Requiem
Iannis Xenakis: Pléïades
Karlheinz Stockhausen: Samstag aus Licht

(I can also mention here: Lutosławski: String Quartet, Xenakis: Keqrops & Shaar, Messiaen: Catalogue d'oiseaux, Liget: Musica ricercata and Études pour piano books 1, 2 & 3)


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Lots of "best 5" lists lately.

I'll play again. 

Penderecki - 2nd Violin Concerto "Metamorphosen" (1992-1995)
Elliott Carter - Concerto for Orchestra (1969)
Joan Tower - Concerto for Orchestra (1991)
Magnus Lindberg - Sculpture (2005)
Samuel Barber - 1st Piano Concerto (1962)


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

William Walton - Variations on a Theme by Hindemith
Shostakovich - Preludes and Fugues
Elliott Carter - String Quartet #1
Schnittke - Symphony #2 "St. Florian"
Schnittke - Piano Quintet (also its orchestral arrangement, "In Memoriam...")


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

John Williams, horn concerto (2003)
John Williams, various film scores
Shostakovich, symphony no.15
Alma Deustcher, opera _Cinderalla_ (2015)
Jay Greenberg, symphony no.5 (2005)


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Britten: War Requiem

Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues

Schuman: Symphony No. 10

Poulenc: Sonata for Oboe and Piano

Bernstein: Serenade for Solo Violin, Strings, Harp and Percussion

If I could extend the list a bit, I would add Boulez: Répons, Persichetti: Piano Sonata No. 10 and Berio: Sinfonia.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Good choices so far. I could easily fill the top 5 with Shostakovich alone, but would certainly include the as-yet-unmentioned Violin Concerto No. 1. (Oops, 1948, sorry! Make that Cello Concerto No. 1.)


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Schnittke: Viola Concerto
Adès: Concentric Paths
Berio: Sinfonia
Ligeti: Requiem
Penderecki: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima


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## Harold in Columbia (Jan 10, 2016)

Assuming we're limiting this to classical works, one per composer, and aspiring to objectivity (which is easier for me than trying to figure out what exactly I subjectively like best), in chronological order:

1. Igor Stravinsky, _The Rake's Progress_ (Such an obvious choice that I'm possibly the first person to even think of it.)
2. Pierre Boulez, _Pli selon pli_
3. La Monte Young, _The Well-Tuned Piano_
4. Philip Glass, _Einstein on the Beach_
5. Gérard Grisey, _Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil_

Narrowing this down to six was easy. It feels wrong to leave off Stockhausen (_Hymnen_), but it feels more wrong to leave off any of the above.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Stravinsky - Canticum sacrum
Reich - Music for 18 Musicians
Messiaen - Couleurs de la cite celeste
Ligeti - violin concerto
Takemitsu - From Me Flows What You Call Time

As in the other thread, pretty arbitrary, would vary from day to day. Music for 18 Musicians would probably always be on there.


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## Guest (Jan 20, 2016)

LICHT, Gruppen, Les Espaces Acoustiques, Requiem, Marteau Sans Maitre

Sub in From Me Flows What You Call Time, Kraanerg, Deserts, Uaxuctum, Como Una Ola De Fuerza Y Luz, Sinfonia, Atlas Eclipticalis, Philomel, Nymphea, Limited Approximations, Vulcano, Sept Solos, etc as you see fit if that's the vibe you're feelin'


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## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

Michael Tippett: Symphony no. 4 (1977)
Sebastian Currier: Time Machines (2007)
Rautavaara: Incantations (2008)
Unsuk Chin: Piano Concerto (1997)
William Schuman: Symphony no. 10 (1976)

Lots of sevens.

Tippett is one of my newest discoveries. I had heard of the name, but never explored until recently. And the fourth symphony - what a discovery! It's the kind of work composers are lucky to write once in their lifetime.

Likewise, Currier surpassed himself in Time Machines. And Rautavaara seems the most persuasive to me in Incantations, though that could be because I'm such a fan of the marimba and the vibraphone. Chin's piano concerto is a definite stand-out for me, among her ouvre as well as in general. Schuman's 10th symphony is the one I keep coming back to more than his others, and a long-time favorite.


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## Guest (Jan 20, 2016)

Coates - Symphony no. 14
Haas - limited approximations
Murail - Desintegrations
Scelsi - Konx-Om-Pax
Kurtág - Hommage a Mihaly Andras (12 Microludes for string quartet)

- very similar to my "all time" list!


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Well, from the other thread... 

Takemitsu: From Me Flows What You Call Time 
Crumb: Black Angels
Shostakovich: String Quartet #8 

and two more... 

Rzewski: Variations on The People United Will Never Be Defeated 
Nono: Como una ola de fuerza y luz tied with Rzewski: Coming Together and Cage: Music of Changes


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## SeptimalTritone (Jul 7, 2014)

Feldman String Quartet 2
Dhomont Frankenstein Symphony
Boulez Pli Selon Pli
Radlescu The Quest (maybe one of the best spectralists? compared to Grisey, Murail, and Haas this guy is seriously underrated on TalkClassical)
Marc Yeats Shapeshifter (really this guy is good. I'm serious. this is on youtube, go listen to it. I even commented, he replied and he's a nice guy.)
Andrew Greenwald A Thing is a Hole in a Thing it is Not
Ferrari Presque Rien

Just some stuff I've legitimately liked a lot recently i.e. not pretending to like for the sake of being "modern". I still am insufficiently modern to like Karkowski and Merzbow (they are still too paper thin in texture and unevolving in time for me).


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

*insufficiently post-modern


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## Harold in Columbia (Jan 10, 2016)

Harold in Columbia said:


> 1. Igor Stravinsky, _The Rake's Progress_ (Such an obvious choice that I'm possibly the first person to even think of it.)
> 2. Pierre Boulez, _Pli selon pli_
> 3. La Monte Young, _The Well-Tuned Piano_
> 4. Philip Glass, _Einstein on the Beach_
> 5. Gérard Grisey, _Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil_


Or, of course, alternately, La Monte Young is sounds that are still in search of a composer and may always be, and Philip Glass is a commercialized version of some of them, and not even the version that most successfully got its claws into the collective subconscious, that being Terry Riley's "Rainbow in Curved Air" or maybe now Steve Reich's _Music for 18 Musicians_, and Elliott Carter and/or Morton Feldman have more staying power. It may really be too soon to tell.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Random selection of works I love:
Messiaen - Saint François d'Assise
Ligeti - Études
Sciarrino - Luci mie traditrici
Grisey - Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil
Xenakis - Pleiades


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

My task on my top 5 works of all time was much easier (even though that was not trivial). I have thought about and listened to music by my favorite composers (e.g. Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Schubert, etc.) for vastly longer than I've thought about post 1950 music. My tastes are still evolving, and I'm still finding new works I really like. I suspect that my answers to this thread will change much more frequently than my answers to the other thread. Anyway,

Ades: Violin Concerto ("Concentric Paths")
Vasks: Violin Concerto ("Distant Light")
Schnittke: Choir Concerto
Boulez: Sur Incises
Pärt: Tabula Rasa


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Random aside: for some reason the violin concerto turned out to be one of the more durable traditional genres post-1950. Ligeti, Ades, Saariaho, Glass, Dutilleux, Adams...even Boulez' Anthemes II is kind of a violin concerto. I wonder why.


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## Harold in Columbia (Jan 10, 2016)

isorhythm said:


> Random aside: for some reason the violin concerto turned out to be one of the more durable traditional genres post-1950. Ligeti, Ades, Saariaho, Glass, Dutilleux, Adams...even Boulez' Anthemes II is kind of a violin concerto. I wonder why.


Violinists are stars, hence there's exposure and money in writing show pieces for them.

A bigger question may be why the piano concerto hasn't done as well. Maybe we actually don't like pianists all that much any more. (It would explain Vivaldi's latter day apotheosis.)


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Again could list many but these 5 would all certainly rank up there

López - Untitled Sonic Microorganisms
Partch - Delusion of the Fury
Gubaidulina - Viola Concerto
Schnittke - Concerto for Piano and Strings
Reich - The Desert Music


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

Harry Partch: The Wayward (1941-1967)
Daniel Lentz: Los Tigres de Marte (1970-1971)
Michael Nyman: Water Dances (1990)
Wolfgang von Schweinitz: Plainsound Glissando Modulation, Op. 49 (2006-2007)
Scott Worthington: Even the Light Itself Falls (2011-2012)


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## Guest (Jan 20, 2016)

tdc said:


> López - Untitled Sonic Microorganisms


The first time I listened to this, I had a rather surreal experience. I had told myself as the track started that, in order to better appreciate Lopez's extreme dynamic range, I would not fiddle with the volume knob mid-track. Needless to say, it got pretty [insert whole slew of expletives here] intense.


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## SeptimalTritone (Jul 7, 2014)

tortkis said:


> Harry Partch: The Wayward (1941-1967)
> Daniel Lentz: Los Tigres de Marte (1970-1971)
> Michael Nyman: Water Dances (1990)
> Wolfgang von Schweinitz: Plainsound Glissando Modulation, Op. 49 (2006-2007)
> Scott Worthington: Even the Light Itself Falls (2011-2012)


I thank you for your recommendation of microtonal stuff.


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## MJongo (Aug 6, 2011)

Charles Mingus - _The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady_ (1963)
György Ligeti - _Lux Aeterna_ (1966)
Harry Partch - _Delusion of the Fury_ (1969)
The Residents - _Meet The Residents_ (1973)
Alfred Schnittke - _Concerto for Piano and Strings_ (1979)


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

MJongo said:


> Charles Mingus - _The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady_ (1963)


Bravo! I seriously considered including this but I backed down from the opposition I anticipated.


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## StDior (May 28, 2015)

Ligeti: Lontano (Abbado version)
Schnittke: Concerto Grosso No. 2
Boulez: Anthèmes II
Gubaidulina: Offertorium
Georg Friedrich Haas: String Quartet 3 "In iij. Noct"


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

Off the top of my head and although I prefer the earlier decade, and Im sure ive missed something important out!

Vaughan Williams - Sinfonia antartica

Malcolm Arnold - Four Scottish Dances, Op. 59

Varese - Deserts

Boulez - Eclat

Michael Nyman - Piano Concerto


Edit; Hell yes! Evelyn Glennie and Bjork - Oxygen and many other works Evelyn Glennie performs. Including 'Rythm Song'

Oh! and Richard Rodney Bennett's concerto for solo percussion and orchestra...I better stop!


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Limiting oneself to just 5 feels incredibly "limiting", there's so much good music that has been written post 1950 that deserves mentioning! This is my list of the current morning!

*Bent Sørensen*: Sneklokker (Snowbells) from 2010

*François-Bernard Mâch*: Kengir (1991)

*George Crumb*: Ancient Voices of Children (1970)

*Meredith Monk*: Songs of Ascension (2011)

*Kaija Saariaho*: Graal théâtre (1994)

No special order!

/ptr


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Saint François d'Assise - Messiaen
Dialogues des carmélites - Poulenc
L'amour de loin - Saariaho
The Turn of the Screw - Britten
Luci mie traditrici - Sciarrino


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Here I feel even more inadequate than in the "Top 5 all time" thread...

My familiarity with contemporary music has been increasing a lot in the last two years or so, but I still need time in order to acquire the right awareness of what I just like and what I DO like. Too many options...

Anyway, here is my absolutely-not-definitive list

Berio's Sinfonia
Stockhausen's Gruppen
Nono's La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura
Grisey's Espaces acoustiques (according to the IRCAM database it's without "Les")
Cerha's Spiegel


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## Guest (Jan 20, 2016)

GioCar said:


> Here I feel even more inadequate than in the "Top 5 all time" thread...
> 
> My familiarity with contemporary music has been increasing a lot in the last two years or so, but I still need time in order to acquire the right awareness of what I just like and what I DO like. Too many options...
> 
> ...


I've only been listening across the whole gamut for two years, so my inadequacy trumps your inadequacy!


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Adams: Harmonielehre
Rzewski: El Pueblo Unido
Gubaidulina: In Tempus Praesens
Maxwell Davies: Trumpet Concerto
Andriessen: De Staat


Honorable Mentions: 
Crumb: Ancient Voices
Harvey: Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco
Messaien: Éclairs sur l'au-delà…


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

One option, among many:

Martinu Symphony 6 (1953)
Pettersson Symphony 8 (1969)
Nørgård Piano Concerto (1996)
Shostakovich 1st Cello Concerto (1959)
Lutoslawski Symphony 4 (1992)


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

This isn't any easier than the all-time list:

Ligeti - Etudes for piano
Duckworth - Time Curve Preludes
Murail - Gondwana
Adams - Nixon in China
Abrahamsen - Schnee


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

What's uppermost in my mind today - four old favourites plus one new:

Schnittke: Concerto Grosso no.1
Britten: The Turn of the Screw
Glass: Koyaanisqatsi
Reich: Proverb
Wolfe: Steel Hammer


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

hpowders said:


> Bernstein: Serenade for Solo Violin, Strings, Harp and Percussion


Attended a concert with The Marine Chamber Orchestra last Sunday, January 17, where they performed this.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

ArtMusic said:


> John Williams, horn concerto (2003)
> John Williams, various film scores
> Shostakovich, symphony no.15
> Alma Deustcher, opera _Cinderalla_ (2015)
> Jay Greenberg, symphony no.5 (2005)


There have been many outstanding suggestion in other posts but I have some real problems with these suggestions.

First of all John Williams is not the only great film composer. Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Elmer Bernstein and many others are just as good as he is.

Alma Deustcher? She is just a child and has yet to develop into a mature composer. When she grows up she may decide to be the next Lady Gaga. I am familiar with many child prodigies who are just as good as she is. I have mentioned some of them in other threads.

One of them is Jay Greenberg. He is an interesting composer who is now in his twenties. As a prodigy I found his music much more interesting that Ms. Deustcher's.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

^Not to mention, "various film scores" is cheating.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

There is no top five.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

arpeggio said:


> There have been many outstanding suggestion in other posts but I have some real problems with these suggestions.
> 
> First of all John Williams is not the only great film composer. Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Elmer Bernstein and many others are just as good as he is.


That's hardly a fair criticism of someone else's list. I could say "so-and-so is just as good" to practically every suggestion mentioned so far.


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## manyene (Feb 7, 2015)

Vaughan Williams: Symphony 9
Shostakovich: Symphony 10
Britten: War Requiem
Martinu: Greek Passion
Pettersson: Symphony 7


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## Guest (Jan 20, 2016)

dogen said:


> I've only been listening across the whole gamut for two years, so my inadequacy trumps your inadequacy!


I started listening to beethoven's 5th three years ago so you're not far behind


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

arpeggio said:


> There have been many outstanding suggestion in other posts but I have some real problems with these suggestions.


It seems a bit weird to single out one individual's personal taste, though, doesn't it?


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## Harold in Columbia (Jan 10, 2016)

Nereffid said:


> It seems a bit weird to single out one individual's personal taste, though, doesn't it?


You're correct. Personally, I have some real problems with every mentioning of Shostakovich.


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

I make no claim that these are the top 5 of anything, but they're all works that have interested me or become favourites.


Bacewicz - String Quartet No. 6 (1960)
Britten - War Requiem (1961)
Kurtag - Hommage a András Mihály (12 microludes for string quartet) (1977-8)
Ligeti - Études for Piano (1985 - 2001)
Gubaidulina - String Quartet No. 4, with tape (1993)


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

schigolch said:


> Saint François d'Assise - Messiaen
> Dialogues des carmélites - Poulenc
> L'amour de loin - Saariaho
> The Turn of the Screw - Britten
> Luci mie traditrici - Sciarrino


That reminds me I haven't heard any of Britten's operas...And I love all of the other operas you mentioned.


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## PeterFromLA (Jul 22, 2011)

A top ten would be reasonable, but a top five to cover a 65 year era characterized by extensive stylistic heterogeneity? C'est impossible!


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

nathanb said:


> I started listening to beethoven's 5th three years ago


Have you finished yet?


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## Guest (Jan 20, 2016)

Nereffid said:


> Have you finished yet?


He's on Youtube and it keeps buffering.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Nereffid said:


> Have you finished yet?


It's Maximianno Cobra's recording.


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## Guest (Jan 20, 2016)

For what it's worth, although I've been listening to classical music about three years now, Schoenberg (followed by Berg and Webern, followed by the Darmstadts, etc) "clicked" for me less than two years ago. Must've been February or March. I remember sitting in the back row of a class with my laptop open to a bunch of pages/articles about serialism and set theory and so on and going nuts, about mid-semester.


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## Guest (Jan 20, 2016)

schigolch said:


> Saint François d'Assise - Messiaen
> Dialogues des carmélites - Poulenc
> L'amour de loin - Saariaho
> The Turn of the Screw - Britten
> Luci mie traditrici - Sciarrino


I want to know how the opera master feels about _Death In Venice_. I love Britten's late period with Prince Of The Pagodas and The Church Parables and so on, but the subject matter in Death In Venice has a sort of banal vibe for me... And when opera is in English, you can't help but confront the subject matter.


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

*Main: *

Adams: _The Dharma at Big Sur_
Glass: _Akhnaten_
Glass: Symphony No. 9
Rautavaara: Symphony No. 7 _"Angel of Light"_
Reich: Music for 18 Musicians

*Alternative:*

Boulez: _Anthemes II_
Glass: Violin Concerto No. 1
Luther Adams: _Become Ocean_
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 7 in C-sharp minor
Rautavaara: _Cantus Arcticus_


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Hmmm
Tricky one, there have been some great lists already (plenty new music for me to listen too)

This is mine:
Penderecki - Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima
Reich - Desert Music
Gloria Coates - String Quarter no 1
Ustvolskaya - Duet for violin & piano
John Tavener - Protecting the Veil


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

I keep seeing the title of this thread in "New Posts" and thinking "That thread? I thought we finished that project ages ago!"


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## andrewsmolich1 (Jan 14, 2016)

Harold in Columbia said:


> You're correct. Personally, I have some real problems with every mentioning of Shostakovich.


Why such a strong dislike for Shostakovich? I've seen a number of people on this forum express dislike for him but I've never seen an explanation of why.


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

If listening to Puccini is like having an affair with a *****, listening to Shostakovich is like trying to have a meaningful conversation with a druged psychiatric patient.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Richannes Wrahms said:


> If listening to Puccini is like having an affair with a *****, listening to Shostakovich is like trying to have a meaningful conversation with a druged psychiatric patient.


Oh, no. I don't know about either of those experiences. Let's relate music to things I have more familiarity with. What music is like to have a meaningful conversation with a ***** or an affair with a drugged psychiatric patient?


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I normally stay away from lists, especially those which restrict choices but this one was just too good to pass up 

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Symphony #8 (1956)
Benjamin Britten - War Requiem (1961)
William Alwyn - Lyra Angelica (1954)
Hans Abrahamsen - Let Me Tell You (2014)

For the 5th selection I will cheat and make it a tie as I wanted to be sure to get both of these composers onto the list
Jennifer Higdon - CityScape (2002)
George Lloyd - Symphony #11 (1985)

Not to mention Peter Maxwell Davies, Edmund Rubbra, Eduard Tubin, William Walton, Rodion Shchedrin, Bohuslav Martinů, Knudåge Riisager, ...


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

RVW symphony no 7, Sinfonia Antartica 
Shostakovich Symphony no 10
Bernstein Serenade after Plato's Symposium 
Pärt Tabula Rasa
Gubaidulina Offertorium


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Becca said:


> Hans Abrahamsen - Let Me Tell You (2014)


:clap:

Already in someone's top 5! I'm not that surprised - it certainly sounds like a "future classic".


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## Harold in Columbia (Jan 10, 2016)

Ugh, kill it with fire.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

My top 5 favorites interestingly commence around the late 1970s and go backwards 15 years to the mid-1960s:

1. _*Livre des Prodiges*_ by Maurice Ohana (1978/'79)


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## TumultuousHair (Mar 13, 2016)

In no particular order:
Adagio for Orchestra and String Quartet 5 by George Perle 
Symphony No. 1 by Benjamin Frankel 
Composizione per orchestra No.1 by Luigi Nono
String Quartet 2 by Milton Babbitt


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## Harold in Columbia (Jan 10, 2016)

Alternate list (chronological order):

1. Pierre Boulez - _Le marteau sans maître_ 
2. Karlheinz Stockhausen - _Kontakte_ 
3. La Monte Young - The best day, or hour, or whatever of the Theater of Eternal Music, 1962-1964. For now, let's say "The Fire Is a Mirror," because you can presently hear it on Youtube without applying for a loan.
4. Steve Reich - _Music for 18 Musicians_ 
5. Tristan Murail - _Désintégrations_


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

With one per composer:

1. Pierre Boulez - Le marteau sans maître
2. Karlheinz Stockhausen - Kontrapunkte
3. György Ligeti - Requiem 

4. Iannis Xenakis - Metastasis 
5. Toru Takemitsu - Dorian Horizon
6. Giacinto Scelsi - Anahit


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Britten-Nocturnal
Messiaen-Turangalila symphony
Schnittke-Concerto grosso no. 1
Shostakovich-String quartet no. 8
Davies-Symphony no. 10
the last one is pretty new, the other all time favorites


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Off the top of my head...

Schnittke: Symphony No. 1
Lindberg: Clarinet Concerto
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
Bernstein: Candide Overture
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15


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## Guest (Mar 15, 2016)

One per composer so I don't have a Stockhausengasm all over your nice thread.

Stockhausen: Gruppen
Grisey: Les Espaces Acoustiques
Boulez: Notations Pour Orchestre
Xenakis: Troorkh
Scelsi: Uaxuctum

I couldn't pick a single Ligeti or Cage work anyway.


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## Autocrat (Nov 14, 2014)

Too damned hard. But for what it's worth, here are five as they came to me:

Ligeti: Requiem
Pärt: Te Deum
Penderecki: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima
Gorecki: Symphony No. 3
Sculthorpe: Earth Cry


The longer list includes nearly everything Ligeti wrote.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

Just a few months ago we had a contest to vote on the top post 1950 works.

Here is a link to the final results: http://www.talkclassical.com/17996-compilation-tc-top-recommended.html#post942479


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