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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3961 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 3, 2023

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Could someone give me a list of good classical music written in the last 70 years?

For choir music the most accessible and famous modern composer is probably Eric Whitacre.

You could try Sleep or Lux Aurumque to see if it's your cup of tea.

I feel like your time period is perhaps a bit too wide as many good classical composers still lived and produced in the 50s-60s and suggestions might therefore mislead you a bit if you're looking for modern composers.

Also, composers of what? Orchestral? Chamber? Choral? Operas? Ballets?

Edit: @fuckduck9000 i thought I'd add a two more recommendations:

Morten Lauridsen:

Example work: O magnum mysterium (1994)

Ola Gjeilo:

Example work: Tota Pulchra Es (2009)

Shostakovich was still alive for the first 20 or so of those years. His eighth string quartet, from 1960, stands out.

Names to consider off the top of my head...

  • John Williams, obviously.

  • Michael Giacchino, you probably haven't heard of him but the score for the Incredibles was fucking incredible and he's been a solid name on the Hollywood soundtrack scene since.

  • Koji Kondo, between the main themes for Mario, Zelda, and Metroid Kondo is another dude many know but have never heard of.

  • James Horner, turns out "discount John Williams" is still pretty damn good, See Terminator, Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, et al.

  • Basil Poludoris, his work is kind of uneven but Anvil of Crom, Red Dawn, and Klendathu Drop are all underrated masterpieces CMV.

  • Hans Zimmer, the more you listen to him the more you realize he's only got one trick, fortunately it's a solid trick

Good, good. Something similar to the Köln Concert would also do, if anyone has suggestions.

It occurs to me that if we're going back 70 years we ought to include Jerry Goldsmith and Miklos Rosas as well. I was thinking "recent" as in stuff that had come out within my lifetime but that's actually cutting the window ~25 years short.

Try John Adams, his works are used extensively in the soundtrack of the computer game Civilization 4. In particular The People are the Heroes Now from the opera Nixon in China, Chairman Dances or Shaker Loops.

For a more avant-garde (and repetitive) sound there is Philip Glass: Runaway Horses from the A Life in Four Chapters movie soundtrack, Pruitt Igoe from Koyaanisqatsi movie soundtrack, or the opera Einstein on the Beach.

Yeah Hallelujah Junction and Life in the mountains are favourites. But I thought maybe as a movie-goer I was missing an entire iceberg of music that only people who regularly go to classical concerts know, but apparently film scores are it.

There exists, but I didn't want to recommend something I personally don't like. Putting that aside, there are György Ligeti and Karlheinz Stockhausen, maybe you will find them to your taste.

Thank you. But what the shit? My ears are not that sophisticated.

Might be cheating because many of the themes are from earlier works but the Star Wars theme is probably the most popular classical work from that era.

I like film scores, sure, Zimmer, Burwell, Williams, Glass, Tiersen, Morricone, but is there nothing more?

Yes, a lot, but none very well known.

If you find them worth listening to, I'd like to hear them.

What does ChatGPT say?

Here's what it gave me, in case anyone's interested.

The past 70 years have seen many great composers who have contributed to classical music. Here are a few examples, in no particular order:

John Williams: Known for his film scores such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Jurassic Park, Williams is one of the most successful and recognizable composers of our time.

Philip Glass: An American composer known for his minimalist style, Glass has composed numerous operas, symphonies, and film scores.

Steve Reich: Another minimalist composer, Reich's works often involve repetition and gradual change. Some of his most well-known works include "Music for 18 Musicians" and "Different Trains."

Arvo Pärt: An Estonian composer, Pärt is known for his unique style of "tintinnabuli," which involves simple, melodic lines and bell-like tones.

Hans Zimmer: A German composer who has scored many popular films such as The Lion King, Inception, and The Dark Knight trilogy, Zimmer is known for his use of electronic and orchestral elements.

György Ligeti: A Hungarian composer known for his avant-garde style and use of micropolyphony, Ligeti's works have been used in films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining.

Krzysztof Penderecki: A Polish composer whose works often incorporate elements of avant-garde and serialism, Penderecki's compositions have been used in numerous films and television shows.

Thomas Adès: A British composer who has written operas, orchestral works, and chamber music, Adès is known for his eclectic style and use of unconventional instruments.

These are just a few examples of the many great composers of the past 70 years.

Bing:

If you are looking for classical composers who were born after 195045, some of the names that appear frequently are John Adams (born 1947), Thomas Adès (born 1971), John Corigliano (born 1938), Philip Glass (born 1937), Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Kaija Saariaho (born 1952), Tan Dun (born 1957) and Esa-Pekka Salonen (born 1958).

I'm not sure if it recognized my location and thus gave me two Finnish composers (Saariaho and Salonen) or if it would have done it nevertheless.

Giving machines the silent treatment is my petty contribution to luddism.

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