# Attention Modern Music cognoscenti



## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Indulge me, if you will- imagine I'm the A & R man and have given you the assignment "Masterpieces of the 2nd half of the 20th Century." We have room for between 10 and a dozen Classical genre compositions. Now, keeping in mind the parameters, which are 1) it must date from between 1950-2000, and 2) it must be in the Classical category, which pieces would you select?!


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## Guest (Jun 20, 2007)

Ten to twelve? Not enough, but I'll give it a try.

Cage, Freeman Etudes
Lutoslawski, Cello Concerto
Ligeti, Violin Concerto
Dickinson, Piano Concerto
Mumma, Hornpipe
Ashley, In Sara, Mencken, Beethoven and Christ there were Men and Women
Lucier, I am sitting in a room
Varese, Poeme Electronique
Ferrari, Presque rien
Sofia Gubaidulina, Symphony (the one in 12 movements)
Pauline Oliveros, I of IV
Michele Bokanowski, L'Etoile d'absinthe

Twelve, that's just cruel, man. Just cruel. 120 would have been easier and more sane. 1200 would have given a more accurate picture of all the things going on between 1950 and 2000.

But there's your twelve from this guy, anyway. Or some guy. Whatever...


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## Guest (Jun 20, 2007)

Chi_town/Philly said:


> Indulge me, if you will- imagine I'm the A & R man and have given you the assignment "Masterpieces of the 2nd half of the 20th Century." We have room for between 10 and a dozen Classical genre compositions. Now, keeping in mind the parameters, which are 1) it must date from between 1950-2000, and 2) it must be in the Classical category, which pieces would you select?!


Easy. Here's 5 by Shostakovich:


Symphony No 10 (1953)
Piano Con 2 (1957)
Cello Con 1 (1959)
String Quartet No 8 (1960)
Symphony No 15 (1971)

All of then undoubted masterpieces (dates not guaranteed but near enough).


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## rojo (May 26, 2006)

Modern music is doing relatively well in the 'favourite era' thread, yet why aren`t the modern music fans here?

Gorecki - Symphony No.3
Arvo Part - Te Deum
Schnittke - any of his Concertos
Penderecki - Capriccio for Oboe and Eleven Strings
Ligeti - Etudes for Piano, esp. from book 2; l`Escalier du Diable
Glass - perhaps Einstein on the Beach? I think it`s generally considered a masterpiece. At least by some anyway...

These are just some of my favourite works really, don`t know if they are masterpieces.

Shosty`s a great suggestion, and some guy`s list looks very interesting, but I don`t know all that many of them. Hope to check them out soon.

I`ll probably think of more later...


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## Frasier (Mar 10, 2007)

Something you didn't mention - are you asking for world premiere recordings or works already recorded. Some already posted have been recorded multiple times not that it matters much if you can come up with superior recordings!


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

[Before I say anything else]- Thanks for all the responses so far! To answer *Frazier*'s question, it was my intent for any 1950-2000 Classical Music work (of quality, to be sure) to merit consideration, premiered/recorded or not. The works mentioned so far seem entirely in the spirit in which I posited my question.

The reason I started this thread is so that focus could be brought to bear on modern works that seem too often ignored (and I'm guilty of some ignorance, too) in Classical circles. I mount the soap-box a lot (maybe too often), but I can also be a motivated learner- and that's part of what I'm trying to do here.


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2007)

I thought it was perfectly clear what the original poster was asking for: simply a list af about 10 works written post 1950 that may be considered to be "masterpieces".

In addition to the 5 Shostakovich works I gave earlier, here's a few more:


Rodrigo - Fantasia Para un Gentilhombre (1954)

Stravinsky - The Rakes Progress (1951)

Tippett - Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli (1953)

Vaughan Williams - Pilgrim's Progress (1952)

Villla-Lobos - Guitar Concerto. (1951)

What constitutes a "masterpiece" is debateable but these works are pretty good.


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2007)

I hope, *Chi Town*, that you will appreciate that I was attempting to provide a list of notable works by recognised good/great composers.


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2007)

One further point, *Chi Town*, which I hope is clear.

My lists are not based on either:

(i) new music which *I* personally consider is overdue for acknowledgement as masterpieces, (laugh) 
or

(ii) an attempt to promote new music per se.​
I will leave any such special pleading to others who may feel this kind of response adequately answers your question.

On the contrary, my two lists involve acknowledged masterpieces, that appeal to genuine cognoscenti, which is what I thought you really wanted.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Oh, bungler-all! I owe a big apology to *Frasier*, whose name I misspelled in my prior post! Must be the "South Philly" creeping into me "Smokin' Joe" Frazier, former World Heavyweight Champion, is from around these parts. _Mea Culpa_, *Frasier* (not too soon to practice ), and thanks for your forbearance.


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## rojo (May 26, 2006)

Couple more that I find rather neat-

Messiaen - Oiseaux Exotiques
Lutoslawski - Chain 1

And a slightly more tuneful one-

Rzewski - The People United Will Never Be Defeated - this one is fairly popular, but I think I actually prefer his-

Rzewski - Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues


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