# Introducing someone to modern classical music



## kanishknishar (Aug 10, 2015)

Hello, TCers! Good morning (afternoon/evening)!

My friend recently jumped on the classical music wagon and so far enjoys more serene, quieter music - Beethoven's last three sonatas and Haydn's Piano Trio specifically. Symphony - not as much.

So for someone like that? Which piece would you recommend?
I'd recommend Rihm and Penderecki but that would probably scare her away from modernist music permanently. :lol:


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## Guest (Apr 24, 2016)

What about* Arvo Pärt*?
Spiegel im Spiegel: 



Fratres: 



Cantus: 




Just three of his works to start your friend off on her quest ...


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Takashi Yoshimatsu - Threnody to Toki

The minimalists (Glass, Pärt etc.) and impressionists (Ravel, Debussy) are the obvious candinates though.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Cage: In a Landscape
Schnittke: Concerto grosso no.1
Reich: Electric Counterpoint


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Brahms' late piano pieces --> Schoenberg's 2nd string quartet --> Dallapiccola's Musica Notturna

(this is kind of a psychological experiment, I have no idea whether it would actually work)

(Dim7's suggestion of impressionists and minimalists is obviously more reasonable)


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

I had an interesting experience concerning introducing someone to modern music you might find interesting: http://www.talkclassical.com/23223-tonal-atonal.html#post402351

One can never tell how someone is going to react to a piece of music.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Some Messiaen piano music might not scare her off.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

It would be helpful if there is some sort of context to the piece. For example, the Penderecki _Threnody _has a purpose to its chaos, and so that might be swallowed better when one knows it's a lament and not just an aural experiment (as it was originally intended). Also pieces with imaginative titles can help, visual, tactile sensory, and story-telling. Anything for them to get an initial grip on when they're hearing a piece for the first time.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

isorhythm said:


> Brahms' late piano pieces --> Schoenberg's 2nd string quartet --> Dallapiccola's Musica Notturna
> 
> (this is kind of a psychological experiment, I have no idea whether it would actually work)
> 
> (Dim7's suggestion of impressionists and minimalists is obviously more reasonable)


It's great you mentioned Dallapicolla's work because hidden in his usually difficult music is one
of the most cheeriest little moments in modern classical:






The 16:40 minute mark in the Concerto "for Muriel Couvreux."

It's wrongly named a piano concerto in that video, it's a piccolo concerto.

I would suggest that, Debussy greatest piano hits, and some Chabrier piano music.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Jay Greenberg (prodigy), symphony no.5


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

ArtMusic said:


> Jay Greenberg (prodigy), symphony no.5


Considering all of the fine recommendations that have been made so far, this is a the weakest one.


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## Guest (Apr 24, 2016)

I suggest you simply recommend the best stuff without assuming that they have any sort of preconceived bias. Although these preconceived biases are common, it'd be best to give them the benefit of the doubt for the first time around.


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## Adam Weber (Apr 9, 2015)

ArtMusic said:


> Jay Greenberg (prodigy), symphony no.5


Impressive for a fourteen year old, but not representative of modern music.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

ArtMusic said:


> Jay Greenberg (prodigy), symphony no.5


I've heard of and heard the music of this guy. Pretty cool he got a chance to be put in the spotlight at so young an age!


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## Guest (Apr 25, 2016)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> I've heard of and heard the music of this guy. Pretty cool he got a chance to be put in the spotlight because of being at so young an age!


Fixed your post


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

Adam Weber said:


> Impressive for a fourteen year old, but not representative of modern music.


Why? What are the obligatory parameters of modern music (other than the obvious time frame and not sounding like Rachmaninof or somesuch)?


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Morton Feldman
*************


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Adam Weber said:


> Impressive for a fourteen year old, but not representative of modern music.


Why not, and so are "representative"? Thank goodness for composers like JG - their music is ever so fresh because it is composed at a young age.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

He might enjoy Sibelius's final symphony. It's not altogether quiet(gets louder and excited in spots), but it's smoother than smooth and definitely an introspective work if there ever was one.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Oh, and don't forget to make sure your friend reads science's "shoulds"!


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## Adam Weber (Apr 9, 2015)

ArtMusic said:


> Why not, and so are "representative"? Thank goodness for composers like JG - their music is ever so fresh because it is composed at a young age.


It's too conservative to represent contemporary music, and it pales in comparison to stylistically similar music of the past, e.g. by Hindemith, Holmboe, Ruggles, et cetera.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Adam Weber said:


> It's too conservative to represent contemporary music, and it pales in comparison to stylistically similar music of the past, e.g. by Hindemith, Holmboe, Ruggles, et cetera.


I differ, given the number of new music composed very recently this may well be part of the direction of new music, not wholly, but undoubtedly part of the new direction forward. Exciting times ahead!


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## Adam Weber (Apr 9, 2015)

ArtMusic said:


> I differ, given the number of new music composed very recently this may well be part of the direction of new music, not wholly, but undoubtedly part of the new direction forward. Exciting times ahead!


Examples of this trend?


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Herrenvolk said:


> Hello, TCers! Good morning (afternoon/evening)!
> 
> *My friend *recently jumped on the classical music wagon and so far enjoys more serene, quieter music - Beethoven's last three sonatas and Haydn's Piano Trio specifically. Symphony - not as much.
> 
> ...


If she's your friend I wouldn't recommend her to some of the stuff being written today. Might put the friendship in jeopardy!


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## Adam Weber (Apr 9, 2015)




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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

How about Brenton Broadstock?

Symphony 2


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## kartikeys (Mar 16, 2013)

I have my blog for that purpose -- classical 
music in simple language. It's in the signature.


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## kanishknishar (Aug 10, 2015)

nathanb said:


> I suggest you simply recommend the best stuff without assuming that they have any sort of preconceived bias. Although these preconceived biases are common, it'd be best to give them the benefit of the doubt for the first time around.


What would be the best stuff? I enjoy Rihm, Penderecki, Rautaavara. So should I just randomly recommend any piece I find appealing?



kartikeys said:


> I have my blog for that purpose -- classical
> music in simple language. It's in the signature.


You don't have a blog, apparently.


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## Guest (May 1, 2016)

Herrenvolk said:


> Hello, TCers! Good morning (afternoon/evening)!
> 
> My friend recently jumped on the classical music wagon and so far enjoys more serene, quieter music - Beethoven's last three sonatas and Haydn's Piano Trio specifically. Symphony - not as much.
> 
> ...


'Modern' or 'modernist'? That is to say, something from a living composer, composing within the last 20 years, or anything from the last 140 with 'modernist' attributes?


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## kartikeys (Mar 16, 2013)

Herrenvolk said:


> What would be the best stuff? I enjoy Rihm, Penderecki, Rautaavara. So should I just randomly recommend any piece I find appealing?
> 
> You don't have a blog, apparently.


I see it in my signature.


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## TwoPhotons (Feb 13, 2015)

This is what comes to mind when I think of modern music which is "serene and quieter" (but not always quiet  ):

Rautavaara - Cantus Arcticulus
J. Adams - Phrygian Gates, Common Tones in Simple Time, Grand Pianola Music
Ligeti - Requiem 
Bartók - Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
Glass - Koyaanisqatsi
Górecki - Symphony of Sorrowful Songs
Copland - Appalachian Spring


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Herrenvolk said:


> Hello, TCers! Good morning (afternoon/evening)!
> 
> My friend recently jumped on the classical music wagon and so far enjoys more serene, quieter music - Beethoven's last three sonatas


Ferneyhough's 6th quartet, Barraqué concerto.



Herrenvolk said:


> Haydn's Piano Trio specifically.


Finnissy 3rd quartet



Herrenvolk said:


> Hello, TCers! Good morning (afternoon/evening)!
> 
> My friend recently jumped on the classical music wagon and so far enjoys more serene, quieter music


Nono prometeo.

I'll mention that there's one recording of Schoenberg's piano music that's so tuneful and fresh that I really think that anyone who feels comfortable with something like Debussy etudes would love it - the recording by Alexei Lubimov.


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