# Composers "We" Enjoy, But Don't Consider Great



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I kind of got this feeling when reading the comments about someone like Villa-Lobos.

I've also searched for threads on other composers like Magnus Lindberg, and Sallinen, but there's almost nothing here.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Charles Ruggles - not enough output
Artur Schnabel - not enough late works


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

starthrower said:


> I kind of got this feeling when reading the comments about someone like Villa-Lobos.
> 
> I've also searched for threads on other composers like Magnus Lindberg, and Sallinen, but there's almost nothing here.


I love Villa-Lobos and Sallinen!


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## Guest (Jan 5, 2012)

All of them.

(Sure, I have a sense of who's considered great and who's not, but none of that has anything to do with me enjoyed whatever I happen to be listening to at the time.)


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

Samuel Barber


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Louis Spohr - as great as Beethoven? No (I love ranking). But enjoyable nonetheless (both music and ranking it).


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I suppose one's definition of "greatness" depends on what you value in music.

Eg. in terms of valuing innovation, pushing music forward, a number of composers who are worth listening to, they didn't do that. They just did what they did and did it very well, to a high level. They had their own unique style. & they may have contributed to music in other ways, eg. in teaching & mentoring the next generation of composers. They were highly regarded by their peers and the public alike.

Some such composers whose music I enjoy quite a lot are Charles Villiers Stanford, Max Bruch & probably also guys like Erno Dohnanyi, and Carlos Surinach as well...


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

Paul Hindemith is one of my favourite 20th century composers but even his most hardened devotees would have to concede that his work is far more respected than it is loved.


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## pluhagr (Jan 2, 2012)

Any of the crossover composers e.g. Gershwin.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Art Rock said:


> I love Villa-Lobos and Sallinen!


Yeah, I love Villa-Lobos as well. But some people here were putting him down.

I've only recently listened to a little bit of Sallinen online, and I really like the sound of his music. Makes me want to invest in the orchestral box set.


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## EarthBoundRules (Sep 25, 2011)

For some reason I'm strangely attracted to the music of Harry Partch. The instruments he made were quite fascinating and I love the 'hobo vibe' of his music. However, I wouldn't say anything he wrote was a masterpiece.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

The non-Wagnerian ones. I feel I do them a small favour listening to them at all.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

I think I'm having a little trouble understanding the purpose of this thread. Is it to highlight composers you like a lot but that are generally not considered to be great, or composers you personally don't think are great but still enjoy? 

In hindsight this will probably seem like a stupid question, but there's no harm in asking.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Anthony Pateras, Clara Scumann, Leo Brouwer, Mauro Giuliani, Fanny Mendellsohn and Liza Lim.

Crudblud here has (perhaps unwittingly) introduced me to the classical music of Frank Zappa who's music I am very rarely exposed to


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## Rapide (Oct 11, 2011)

Enjoy but not great - Mr Boulez.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Rapide said:


> Enjoy but not great - Mr Boulez.


Really? I'd take a guess that Boulez is going to end up being one of "the greats." At least it seems that way right now.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

EarthBoundRules said:


> For some reason I'm strangely attracted to the music of Harry Partch. The instruments he made were quite fascinating and I love the 'hobo vibe' of his music. However, I wouldn't say anything he wrote was a masterpiece.


Hobo vibe heh heh.

Have you heard the composer Moondog? His music also has a hobo vibe to it.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Crudblud here has (perhaps unwittingly) introduced me to the classical music of Frank Zappa who's music I am very rarely exposed to


I've been a huge Zappa fan for a long time. Now that I've been exposed to Schnittke's music, I know why I find it so attractive. It's the polystylistic elements.

As far as Zappa's orchestral music is concerned, I find certain recordings highly enjoyable including Orchestral Favorites, Studio Tan (also includes some great progressive rock), The Perfect Stranger, and 200 Motels.

Of course you have to be open minded because there's so much other great stuff interspersed on his huge volume of releases that crosses all the conventional boundaries and includes jazz improv, rock guitar soloing, and lewd humor.

If you prefer it cleaned up, there are plenty of recordings by other ensembles performing his music, but there's no duplicating the originals, so I recommend going straight to the source.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I like a lot of Frederico Mompou's music.


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## Bradius (Dec 11, 2012)

Coates. Fun, light British music.


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Saint-Seans, J C Bach and Alan Parsons


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I'll take Delius, Chausson, Martinu, Janacek, and Kodaly. I've liked everything I can remember hearing by all of them, but they're never up there with Bartok. Enescu is almost up there too.


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## Guest (Oct 25, 2013)

I thought of Hovhaness for some reason. I can't quite articulate it...maybe it lacks depth or something...but I still love it


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I don't mind _Symphonie Fantastique_, even though it hits me ho-hummingly, but I don't think Berlioz is truly 'great'.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Beauty in the Ears of the Beholder*

There are many, many composers that I enjoy that others do not consider great.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Like others here, my list would include Moondog, Harry Partch and Alan Hovhaness. Bax, Korngold and Tippett are in the running too, but my personal "enjoy, but not great" 1st prize goes to Havergal Brian.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

I've always had a soft spot for Gerald Finzi, though I don't rate any of his music as top drawer. He just seems to have been such a nice guy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Finzi


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## Garlic (May 3, 2013)

EarthBoundRules said:


> For some reason I'm strangely attracted to the music of Harry Partch. The instruments he made were quite fascinating and I love the 'hobo vibe' of his music. However, I wouldn't say anything he wrote was a masterpiece.


I would happily call "Delusion of the Fury" a masterpiece! I think Partch was a genius, one of the greatest of the 20th century.

I love a lot of Steve Reich's music but I think his output is a too inconsistent to be "great", he seems to use the same techniques over and over, especially recently. I feel similarly about Arvo Pärt.


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

Crudblud said:


> I think I'm having a little trouble understanding the purpose of this thread.


I think it's another guilty pleasures thread. If I enjoy something I tend to think it's great anyway, that's why I enjoy it. Better to judge something for yourself than just on something another person tells you.



starthrower said:


> Yeah, I love Villa-Lobos as well. But some people here were putting him down.


I like some things by Villa-Lobos and dislike others. Actually that's probably the case with every composer I listen to.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

I'm a classical guitar fan. Thus my entire taste reads like a veritable who's who of not-so-great composers. :lol:


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

arcaneholocaust said:


> I thought of Hovhaness for some reason. I can't quite articulate it...maybe it lacks depth or something...but I still love it


I'm quite a fan of his work too, or at least of most of the few bots that I have heard. I really should make a point of looking up some more. With an output as vast as his, there is plenty to choose from.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Ukko said:


> Charles Ruggles - not enough output
> Artur Schnabel - not enough late works


You are a brave man if you can listen to Schnabel's compositions.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Louise Farrenc maybe? I was listening to her symphonies #1 and #3. Enjoyable.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

brianvds said:


> I'm a classical guitar fan. Thus my entire taste reads like a veritable who's who of not-so-great composers. :lol:


Due to the amount of enjoyment I get out of various works by composers like Villa-Lobos, Rodrigo, Takemitsu, Walton, Carter, Brouwer, etc. in my world they are "great" composers. I enjoy many of their works as much or more than many composers who are considered "greater". I think its a myth there are not a lot of great guitar composers personally.


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

Maybe if people focussed less on composers and more on the pieces there would be less emphasis placed on reputations and the hero worship there can be at times.


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## ethanjamesescano (Aug 29, 2012)

Fernando Sor and Mauro Giuliani. I enjoy their music, but I find some of their compositions dull.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Carl Stamitz. I really enjoy his galante style music but he rarely gets mentioned. It's a mystery to me.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

I don't see a need to denigrate composers I enjoy. Kind of like the "guilty pleasure" idea. Why feel guilty about it? I value each musician or composer I enjoy.


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

*Piano treasures*

I enjoy the piano music of John Ireland, Arnold Bax, Frank Bridge, and York Bowen. Their music is pianistic, listenable, communicative, and expressive.


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## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

Roger Knox said:


> I enjoy the piano music of John Ireland, Arnold Bax, Frank Bridge, and York Bowen. Their music is pianistic, listenable, communicative, and expressive.


Add Algernon Ashton to that list!

https://toccataclassics.com/product/ashton-piano-music-1/


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## Omicron9 (Oct 13, 2016)

starthrower said:


> I kind of got this feeling when reading the comments about someone like Villa-Lobos.
> 
> I've also searched for threads on other composers like Magnus Lindberg, and Sallinen, but there's almost nothing here.


Check out Villa-Lobos' string quartets and get back to us.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Granville Bantock seems to fit the bill - I don't listen to him all that often or consider him great or original, but *I like him*.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I've enjoyed the concert works of film-music giant Miklos Rozsa, which have been described as "Bartok lite." His harmonies and melodic turns do have a distinct Hungarian flavor and don't sound like his film scores. 

Another fine Hungarian composer is Erno (or Ernst von, in German) Dohnanyi. HIs chamber works, piano music, orchestral works and concertos have been unjustly neglected, probably because they were conservative and rather Romantic while his countryman Bartok was stretching people's ears, but he's now well represented on recordings.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Hummel's sort of my go-to guy when it comes to music I always like without feeling that any of it is significant.


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## Tallisman (May 7, 2017)

I could list a load of early music composers who were by the standards of a hundred or so years later not so advanced but whose music I enjoy MASSIVELY. Perotin, John Dowland maybe.

I would put Gesualdo but I'm not sure whether his weird harmonies are due to a groundbreaking, original musical genius or a bad ear and lack of formal harmonic training...


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Hilding Rosenberg. Mid-twentieth century conservative Swedish composer. Wrote some pleasant piano concertos. Good for an occasional listen.


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## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

Omicron9 said:


> Check out Villa-Lobos' string quartets and get back to us.


I can agree with this. His string quartets set is one of the best of the 20th century.:tiphat:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

William Schuman, American composer from the mid-twentieth century, wrote some very fine accessible symphonies, but as to popularity and staying power, for many people, he's simply an occasional listen.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Franz Krommer ... who was once more popular than Beethoven. Try his partitas Opp. 57, 73 and 76 and his Symphony Op. 40 to see why.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

I'll add another 'vote' for Dohnanyi. I haven't heard a single piece by him that I haven't enjoyed, yet none of it could honestly be called great music.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Vincent Persichetti was a fine American composer, mid-20th century.

I like his 12 piano sonatas, mostly approachable in neo-classical style.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Great may apply to 5,10, or 50 composers. I'm not sure where to draw the line, but wherever I draw it within reason, the vast majority of composers I enjoy fall outside that category. I could list hundreds of composers I enjoy that I would not categorize as great. They still produced wonderful music that I love to hear.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

hpowders said:


> Hilding Rosenberg. Mid-twentieth century conservative Swedish composer. Wrote some pleasant piano concertos. Good for an occasional listen.


Hilding Rosenberg is seen as somewhat of a modernist pioneer so he was either conservative or not great.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Peter Mennin was a fine mid-twentieth century American symphonist. His Seventh Symphony is outstanding and worth an occasional listen.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

They're all great.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I consider Samuel Barber an occasional listen-his Knoxville Summer of 1915 is very fine.


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