# Composers or Pieces Similar to...



## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Many times people ask for Composers or pieces similar to the one they like. I thought it would work well as a game to do this. I'lll list something. The next poster guesses on what is most similar to that and then puts another Composer or piece down. Should be fun.  I'll go first. 
The Four Seasons:


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

No one. How about Water Music from Handel? 
Ligeti. This might be hard though.


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

For 4 seasons I would say, although I think Water Music isn't bad, probably 1 or more of the Bach violin/keyboard concertos. Numbers 4 and 7 perhaps.
For Ligeti as a modernist newbie I probably ought to keep quiet, but Stockhausen is the composer who seems closest to me (that I know).
I will put forward Beethoven's fifth as another classic that people would ask about


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Ramako said:


> I will put forward Beethoven's fifth as another classic that people would ask about







:tiphat:

Maybe some Schubert, like his Symphony no. 9.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Ramako said:


> For 4 seasons I would say, although I think Water Music isn't bad, probably 1 or more of the Bach violin/keyboard concertos. Numbers 4 and 7 perhaps.
> For Ligeti as a modernist newbie I probably ought to keep quiet, but Stockhausen is the composer who seems closest to me (that I know).
> I will put forward Beethoven's fifth as another classic that people would ask about


Eh, I don't think I would compare Stockhausen with Ligeti too much. He went through so many styles and tried so many things it's hard to pin him down to one composer....In a way, I'm almost tempted to compare him to Steve Reich because of his interest in rhythm. But then their sounds aren't too similar to each other either.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Ligeti early period and Bartok. 
Most of the pieces by Stockhausen that I know are serial, so I would not compare him with Ligeti.
I would compare some of Ligeti's middle pieces with Johannes Ockeghem, who was a big inspiration for him.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

I guess I'll go next. Tchaikovsky.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

^Glazunov.

I don't really have anything to ask for, but I'll say Charles Wuorinen.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Don't know. Never heard any. I guess Conductors can be added to the game as well. 
CPE Bach.


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

Joseph Haydn is similar to CPE
Carmen


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Ramako said:


> Joseph Haydn is similar to CPE
> Carmen


More similar yet, W.F. Bach, his older brother/my avatar, and J.C.F. Bach, his younger brother. See Jiří Antonín Benda, for a similar non-Bach composer. Hear for yourself:





Franz Xavier Richter, while part of a slightly different movement, also draws strong parallels with CPE Bach in straddling the baroque and the classical. Take off some of the harmonic edge and add a little cuteness to the melodic lines and you have Johann Stamitz.

Carmen by Bizet?
Works by the likes of Chabrier, J. Strauss, Offenbach, and Verdi are suspect. I used to mix up Rigoletto with Carmen when younger, due to the similar pompous and joyful quality of the most well known music from both operas.

Who, apart from the obvious(Brahms), inherited techniques and ideas pioneered by Schumann?


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

clavichorder said:


> Who, apart from the obvious(Brahms), inherited techniques and ideas pioneered by Schumann?


RAFF

Symphonic-wise anyhow.






Who is most like Lutoslawski? Really curious actually, I've been hearing his music for the first serious time now.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> RAFF
> 
> Symphonic-wise anyhow.
> 
> ...


I'm not sure about any direct influences. But his ideas concerning the exact sound of pieces not necessarily being completely pre-determined (aleatoric) were very influencing to music as a whole and his concepts were adopted to some degree by many composers afterward.

For a contemporary example, I'll turn you to Daniel Ott (a composer I know personally). His piece "Blue Water" has Lutoslawski inspired techniques in it.

http://www.danielottmusic.com/music/blue-water/

Here you can download the score and listen to the beginning of the piece. When you look at the score, you'll notice a bunch of little notes without stems in a measure enclosed in repeats. That basically means repeat those notes at any varying durations for a certain amount of time (the amount of time is marked at the top of the score with this kind of notation, 5"). This creates an element of the music that isn't completely determined by the composer and this kind of technique is sort of what Lutoslawski was all about. Listen to it too. It comes out sounding quite beautiful.

Oh ya, I have to pick a composer or piece too.

How about, who's most similar to Puccini?


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Not sure where to put this. I did some research based on Composers Similar to Telemann/Albinoni/Biber/Corelli/Tartini in the 19th Century and 20th Century on last.fm. Here are my results for the 19th Century and 20th Century. Thought this might help people who want to branch out into newer music. 
19th Century
1. Hummel
2. Sor
3. Clementi
4. Field
5. Weber
6. Bruch
7. Granados
8. Mendelssohn
9. Schubert

20th Century
1. Faure
2. Janacek
3. Sibelius
4 (tie) Busoni and Elgar
6. Scriabin
7. Nielsen
8. Respighi
9. RVW
10. Hindemith


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

I guess I'm the only one obsessed with finding Composers similar to my favorites of the Baroque Era. I hope that list helped somebody.


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

I've become an expert of Middle-Romantic composers! I realized that Schumann, Brahms and Dvorak has very similar way of composition, but Schumann is more tended to vocal music and Dvorak's music has Bohemian themes. Mendelssohn can be included in this list too.

And a very easy one:

Haydn - Mozart


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

List #2 Those similar to Boccherini/CPE Bach/Carl Stamitz in 19th/20th Century. I think I used a better formula for this one. I put them together this time. Though Many similiarities to my first list. I wonder if Hummel is well liked.  Both these lists are biased to the lesser known Composers btw due to the Composers I selected for are lesser known. 
1. Hummel
2. Clementi
3. Field
4. Sor
5. Weber
6. Granados
7. Giuliani
8. Cherubini
9. Bruch
10. Donizetti
11. Franck
12. Gounod
13. Bruckner
14. Mendelssohn
15. Massenet
16. Rossini
17. Glazunov
18. Schumann
19. Faure
20. Berlioz
21. Respighi
22. Nielsen
23. Ralph Vaughan Williiams
24. Smetana
25. Rodrigo


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

violadude said:


> I'm not sure about any direct influences. But his ideas concerning the exact sound of pieces not necessarily being completely pre-determined (aleatoric) were very influencing to music as a whole and his concepts were adopted to some degree by many composers afterward.
> 
> For a contemporary example, I'll turn you to Daniel Ott (a composer I know personally). His piece "Blue Water" has Lutoslawski inspired techniques in it.
> 
> ...


Oh, I didn't realize that Lutoslawski is mostly known for his aleatoric style. I've been listening (actually rehearsing and soon performing) his Symphonic Variations, an early work. There is no youtube video of it to share, but it's cool.

And now my past question makes little sense, since from playing it, it's easy to determine his influences: Stravinsky, Bartok, and Prokofiev.


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