# Suggest a new composer for me!



## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

I've been itching lately for a new composer to get interested in and explore. So, I thought I would turn to you guys to give me one! I've listened to most of the big whigs, so I'm trying to venture into the somewhat lesser-known folks. 

PS: I'm totally a sucker for "deep" music and those Bruckner-esque slow movements


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Joachim Raff maybe? He isn't that deep, but if you like Mendelssohn or Schumann you'll like him. He wrote 11 symphonies, I'd recommend starting with #3 or #5.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Before we should know which are the "old" ones for you...


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

More directly romantic (late romantic on the cusp of modern)
Carl Nielsen: Symphonies No. 4 & 5. (I think these might just thrill you)

There is always Mahler: Symphony No. 1 & 3 might be a good starting point for you.

Perhaps more adventurous for you... 
Charles Koechlin: There is a thread on this composer which also includes mention of a number of his works, including links to a number of them.

Bohuslav Martinů: six symphonies.


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## Wicked_one (Aug 18, 2010)

Atterberg 1st? Bax 1st?

Suk? Holbrooke?

Kalinnikov? He wrote two wonderful symphonies


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Ligeti - _Lontano_

The relation with Bruckner is explained here by the composer.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Hard to give a good recommendation without knowing anything about Your experiences beyond Bruckner...
Allan Pettersson is very, very deep, dunno about Bruckneresque tho?

/ptr


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

PetrB said:


> More directly romantic (late romantic on the cusp of modern)
> Carl Nielsen: Symphonies No. 4 & 5. (I think these might just thrill you)
> 
> There is always Mahler: Symphony No. 1 & 3 might be a good starting point for you.
> ...


I'll just second this recommendation. You can't get much deeper than Martinu or Koechlin.

I might add Hugo Alfvén starting with Symphony No. 4 in C minor. Awesome late romantic or post romantic depth there.


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## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

ptr said:


> Hard to give a good recommendation without knowing anything about Your experiences beyond Bruckner...
> Allan Pettersson is very, very deep, dunno about Bruckneresque tho?
> 
> /ptr


And yet you seem to have done it quite nicely . I've listened to most of the composers in the "TC Recommended Lists" thread, with a few notable gaps (mostly the modern composers, opera, and handful of others). I don't mind if some people recommend composers I'm already familiar with, because plenty of other recommendations will be ones I'm not familiar with!


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

PetrB said:


> More directly romantic (late romantic on the cusp of modern)
> Carl Nielsen: Symphonies No. 4 & 5. (I think these might just thrill you)
> 
> There is always Mahler: Symphony No. 1 & 3 might be a good starting point for you.
> ...


Hi,
PetriB, I wholeheartedly agree with your recommendations; I, too would have most definitely urged Nielsen and Martinu, but you "beat me to the punch". Good job! :wave:


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

Weston said:


> I'll just second this recommendation. You can't get much deeper than Martinu or Koechlin.
> 
> I might add Hugo Alfvén starting with Symphony No. 4 in C minor. Awesome late romantic or post romantic depth there.


I would also add the two symphonies of Wilhelm Stenhammar to this wonderful list.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Max Bruch perhaps? Try the violin concertos, the Scottish Fantasia, double concerto for viola and clarinet, Kol Nidrei, Celtic Fantasia and other works for cello and orchestra, etc. All very mellow and romantic.


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## RCWP (May 20, 2014)

Shostakovich has perhaps the range and musical development associated with Beethovan. He is for me last centuries humanist composer.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

RCWP said:


> Shostakovich has perhaps the range and musical development associated with Beethovan. He is for me last centuries humanist composer.


What does that mean? I'm curious.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

You could do worse than try the symphonies (11) and string quartets (15) of Robert Simpson (1921-97). There is 'violence' in some of these works but also a fair amount of slow unfurling which may appeal.


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

Bruckneresque!-you cannot fail to be impressed by Myaskovsky,particularly the slow movements of many of his 27 symphonies-I would suggest you start with the final one....someone suggested Kalinnikov and that is a great possibility as are the six symphonies of Martinu-and the 3rd Tubin symphony, Rubbra and Moeran....I will stop there as I fear I might be rambling


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Aarre Merikanto
Maurice Ohana
Arne Nordheim
Roberto Gerhard
Luigi Dallapiccola
Tristram Cary
Fartein Valen
Luis De Pablo
Vagn Holmboe
Humphrey Searle
Friedrich Cerha
Benjamin Frankel
Isang Yun
Morton Feldman
Goffredo Petrassi
Paavo Heininen
Anders Eliasson
Nikos Skalkottas
Eero Hameenniemi
Marius Constant
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Roger Sessions
Josef Tal
Bernard Rands
Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Iannis Xenakis
Bent Sorensen

[I realize one composer is being asked for, but I couldn't resist offering 25+ favorites of mine who might all be "new" to the OP. One can pick and choose whomever may appear most interesting  ]


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Rautavaara (though his music is closer to Ravel than Bruckner, his Third Symphony is nearly a re-write of Bruckner's Fourth)
John Adams has some epic works (I'm thinking Harmonilhre)
Hovhaness's symphonies are great,
Richard Strauss' tone poems and operas (Alpine Symphony, Ein Heldenleben, Also Sprach Zarathustra, Salome, Rosenkavalier)
Vaughn Williams
Walton,

A few of these are really big names, so Idk who you know and dont know :/ so i thought the more the merrier


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that you explore Australian Classical Music. In my experience, Australian composers often capture a deep, slow moving, spiritual sound in their music. Since "Brucknerian slowness" is the only quality you gave us to work with, I'm just guessing that this kind of sound might suit your liking.

There's another side to Australian music too. A lot of it, when it is not being slow and spiritual, tends to be very noisy and cacophonous. But not in an OMG MODERNISM ATONAL kind of way (even though I like that type of cacophony too). It's more of a vibrant and energetic cacophony that has more to do with the sheer amount of activity going on, rather than the amount of non-functional dissonance it contains (though it has that too).

Just like America, Australia is a relatively new country that were sort of late to the party in terms of developing a unique classical music style, but I think they are cultivating one quite nicely.

The obvious place to start is with Peter Sculthorpe, who's pretty much like the poster boy of Australian classical music right now.














Sculthorpe also has an incredibly haunting piano concerto as well that's not available on youtube, which is possibly my favorite work by him at the moment.

The other two Australian composers that I have explored an alright bit of are Brenton Broadstock and Carl Vine.

Broadstock has written 5 pretty nice symphonies that demonstrate quite well the qualities of Australian music that I spoke about above. Unfortunately, the only thing on youtube at the moment is a short excerpt from his first symphony:





 (Here you get a really good taste for the kind of cacophony that is typical of Australian classical music but I would advise against watching the video, it gets pretty annoying).

Carl Vine has written 7 symphonies and a pretty good piano concerto, from what I've listened to.










So if you like the examples that I gave, I say give them a shot! I don't think any of the youtube links I gave are examples of the composers at their very best (besides the Sculthorpe pieces, maybe).


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Cosmos said:


> Rautavaara (though his music is closer to Ravel than Bruckner, his Third Symphony is nearly a re-write of Bruckner's Fourth)


Ravel, huh? What do you hear between Rautavaara and Ravel as being similar? I don't hear much but I'd love to know your opinion.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

*Marc-André Dalbavie*


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

A suggestion: Toru Takemitsu. Here's "From Me Flows What You Call Time." Listen for echoes of La Mer...






Added: It's not a whole lot like Bruckner, actually.


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## Gondur (May 17, 2014)

Justin Bieber. Justin Bieber. Justin Bieber.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Prodromides said:


> [I realize one composer is being asked for, but I couldn't resist offering 25+ favorites of mine who might all be "new" to the OP. One can pick and choose whomever may appear most interesting  ]


I've only heard of _two_ of those composers. It looks like I'll need to start a to-be-checked-out list to supplement my want list.


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## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

Franz Schmidt's Fourth Symphony has always struck me as the closest thing to 20th-century Bruckner that I've heard. The great "lonely" trumpet call points ahead to Copland's _Quiet City_ (and even to Carter's _A Symphony of Three Orchestras_), but the general context sounds like deftly modernized Bruckner. The old Mehta/VPO [Decca] recording still reigns supreme to my ears; you can hear it at Spotify or YouTube: 




Schmidt's other great work, his masterpiece, really, is his ambitious oratorio _Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln_ (The Book with Seven Seals), a vigorous and grand setting of texts adapted from the Apocalypse of St. John for six vocalists, choir, organ, and orchestra. It's much more related to Wagner and Strauss and even Brahms than to Bruckner; a good performance of it packs quite a punch. I've always favored the old Mitropoulos/VPO recording from the 1959 Salzburg Festival [Sony], but Welser-Möst leads a surprisingly good modern account on EMI (which can be heard at Spotify).


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

violadude said:


> Ravel, huh? What do you hear between Rautavaara and Ravel as being similar? I don't hear much but I'd love to know your opinion.


Well, though I said closer to Ravel, it's not really close enough to say "Rautavaara's like Ravel". Some of his orchestra writing just reminds me of Ravel, main example is the first piano concerto


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

violadude said:


> I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that you explore Australian Classical Music. In my experience, Australian composers often capture a deep, slow moving, spiritual sound in their music. Since "Brucknerian slowness" is the only quality you gave us to work with, I'm just guessing that this kind of sound might suit your liking.
> 
> There's another side to Australian music too. A lot of it, when it is not being slow and spiritual, tends to be very noisy and cacophonous. But not in an OMG MODERNISM ATONAL kind of way (even though I like that type of cacophony too). It's more of a vibrant and energetic cacophony that has more to do with the sheer amount of activity going on, rather than the amount of non-functional dissonance it contains (though it has that too).
> 
> ...


To add to the Australian composers list, I really enjoy what I've heard of *Alfred Hill*, especially his String Quartets and his Viola Concerto. He did write 12 symphonies, although I have barely explored them yet. His style is somewhat comparable to Dvorak, so if you enjoy Dvorak, you may like Hill as well.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Cosmos said:


> Well, though I said closer to Ravel, it's not really close enough to say "Rautavaara's like Ravel". Some of his orchestra writing just reminds me of Ravel, main example is the first piano concerto


Oh ya, I can see that I think.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Dirge said:


> Schmidt's other great work, his masterpiece, really, is his ambitious oratorio _Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln_ (The Book with Seven Seals), a vigorous and grand setting of texts adapted from the Apocalypse of St. John for six vocalists, choir, organ, and orchestra. It's much more related to Wagner and Strauss and even Brahms than to Bruckner; a good performance of it packs quite a punch. I've always favored the old Mitropoulos/VPO recording from the 1959 Salzburg Festival [Sony], but Welser-Möst leads a surprisingly good modern account on EMI (which can be heard at Spotify).


You're right in that this work is not very much in the style of Bruckner (maybe in his spirit, though?), but it's always a good time to advertise it! Sometimes, it feels like the greatest oratorio of all time to me. Its very strangeness sets it apart. It is passionate to the point of being hysterical, yet at the same time it is extremely detached, as if the things observed were very far away and, somehow, _cold_... as if you were completely tied up and unable to act at all, just able to watch, to witness how the wheel of Fate turns, and to _feel_... like watching the very methodological and logical destruction of our world from a great vantage point, unable to blink, torn by a wind of great cold... and there is a great, and greatly perverse, satisfaction in this witnessing of destruction; and the realization of this satisfaction fills one with great horror towards oneself... and finally horror combines with joy to create a sensation of being completely outside the self, in a strange, "New Jerusalem"!


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

For "slow unfurling", I cannot recommend too highly my latest arrival:









Alfred Schnittke
Symphony 3
Klas/Stockholm

There isn't much option in the way of performances, but this particular one is nothing less than monumental. I was listening to it in bed last night :kiss:


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Don't mess around with all these composers, buddy. Go straight to the Nono.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*The Band Junkie Recommends*

What? No band composers? Am I the only one who is backing the cause of band music?

The following composers many appeal to you.

David Maslanka. Example: 



Mark Camphouse. Example: 



David Gillingham. Example: 




What is neat about these guys is that they are alive and active. I personally know Mr. Camphouse.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

*->> There Can Be Only One Anton Bruckner <<-*

But: for a quite multi-facetted, large and interesting oeuvre:
*Frank Bridge*:
_Phantasm_, piano concerto 



_Lament_ for strings 



_Oration_, cello concerto 



_The Sea_, symphonic poem 



_Piano Sonata_


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

How about Gloria Coates, whose symphonies have for me a kind of Brucknerian vastness.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

A second alternative from me, very little French in the gumbo!

Why not try the other Schmitt, Florent?
I just love his ballet "La tragédie de Salomé" especially in the "original chamber orchestra version.

/ptr


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## Hassid (Sep 29, 2012)

George Enescu. Forget for a moment his Romanian Rhapsodies, and listen to his deep, rather dark chamber works, like his 2 and 3 violin sonatas, his string quartets and his fantastic octet. A very unjustly underrated master composer, violinist, pianist, teacher and conductor.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

arpeggio said:


> What? No band composers? Am I the only one who is backing the cause of band music?
> 
> The following composers many appeal to you.
> 
> ...


Presently, you are _the_ band junkie of TC


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## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

It sounds like I have a busy week ahead of me lol. I appreciate all of the suggestions, I haven't heard of many of these composers so it'll be entirely new stuff for me!


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

There have been lots of good suggestions: Bruch, George Enescu, Florent Schmitt, etc...

Might I add Karl Weigl:



















or Braunfels:










Both composers were greatly admired before WWII, but blacklisted as composers of "Degenerate Music" during the Third Reich, a never regained their reputation.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Great Posts*

This is why I really like this forum.

Even I have read some great suggestions like the one above that I have check out.


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## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> There have been lots of good suggestions: Bruch, George Enescu, Florent Schmitt, etc...
> 
> Might I add Karl Weigl:
> 
> ...


Goodness gracious...I started off with your first suggestion and it was really good!


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Joly Braga Santos, Symphony No. 3- first and third movements. If you're familar with Miklos Rozsa, then you'll notice an uncanny resemblance to some of his works; though developmentally, the Braga Santos is comparatively weak.














I love that buildup at around 2:00 of the first movement of Symphony No. 2; but, again, too bad he can't sustain the mood developmentally.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

I recommend Ronald Binge, a well-known British composer.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

joen_cph said:


> *->> There Can Be Only One Anton Bruckner <<-*


Thank goodness! The prospect of more of them is appalling.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

PetrB said:


> Thank goodness! The prospect of more of them is appalling.


All gods are jealous gods; Yahweh no exception.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

PetrB said:


> Thank goodness! The prospect of more of them is appalling.


One of any of us is quite enough. Just ask anyone else.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Marschallin Blair said:


> All gods are jealous gods; Yahweh no exception.


Godhood can go to one's head. Of course that's where it comes from in the first place. Thank god the heavens are empty.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Marschallin Blair said:


> All gods are jealous gods; Yahweh no exception.


That old testament deity is infamously flawed, egomaniacal, jealous, vindictive, and moody. The buzz has it he mellowed out a lot, gained a little empathy and compassion, after he had a kid -- i.e. typical mid-to-late 20's something punk male life outlook transition business.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

> Originally Posted by Marschallin Blair
> All gods are jealous gods; Yahweh no exception.
> 
> PetrB: That old testament deity is infamously flawed, egomaniacal, jealous, vindictive, and moody. The buzz has it he mellowed out a lot, gained a little empathy and compassion, after he had a kid -- i.e. typical mid-to-late 20's something punk male life outlook transition business.


But then, if He wanted to be pure, punk-rock 'star' to begin with, he should have been Himself-- and followed His _own _lead-- instead of trying to be a counterfeit Mithra from the backwaters of the Levant.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

PetrB said:


> That old testament deity is infamously flawed, egomaniacal, jealous, vindictive, and moody. The buzz has it he mellowed out a lot, gained a little empathy and compassion, after he had a kid -- i.e. typical mid-to-late 20's something punk male life outlook transition business.



You must not have heard what happened to that poor kid when he grew up!


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## Rangstrom (Sep 24, 2010)

The composers that I think bring the Bruckner sound into the 20th century would include Simpson, Wellesz and Tyberg along with the previously mentioned Schmidt and Maiskovsky.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Nereffid said:


> You must not have heard what happened to that poor kid when he grew up!


Or whose idea it was in the first place.


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