contemporary classical music

[XkillerX]

anybody into this? just came back from a concert.

absolutely loved the works of monica lynn and hans otte.

on the other hand, john cage's "4' 33" " and schaeffer's kontures were just puke. as well as pál's "four studies for piano".


and totally unrelated to the concert, i'm crazy about yann tiersen.

[Jonathan]

I am not quite sure as to the definition of contemporary classical music. However, I do like a few modern day classical composers, such as Nyman, Williams, Einaudi. I can play a couple of Einaudi pieces - they can be a bit samey sometimes, but nevertheless very beautiful.

Jonathan

[ninearms]

If 4'33" was bad then it's the fault of the audience, the pianist (assuming it was a piano version - the score doesn't specify instrumentation), the building, and the conductor if there was one. You can't blame the piece.

I'm about 4 hours into Morton Feldman's String Quartet II at the moment. I should try and get through the whole 6 hours in one go at the weekend really.

Ryoji Ikeda's Op. is still my current favourite though, alongside Johann Johannson.

[helmut]

i really like michael nyman!!

i loove classical music but dont have much contemporary stuff... so i will checking out the names on this thread

[helmut]

and totally unrelated to the concert, i'm crazy about yann tiersen.

heck yes!!!!!

[fist of doom]

how would God Speed You Black Emperor fit into this genre? they are both epic and instrumental...

[raven]

i love god speed you black emperor... tho i'd say they're more alternative rock?

[benzilla]

i love god speed you black emperor... tho i'd say they're more alternative rock?

Awesome band! post-rock?

[raven]

yeah, post rock sounds right....

[KC Masterpiece]

New member; sorry for the delay:

I think godspeed has been called musical "deconstruction" in certain circles. Post-rock works well too. They definitely tread their own path.

For anyone on the west coast, check out http://www.otherminds.org/shtml/Charlesonom.shtml They're a great organization and worked with Cage and several West Coast composers in the mid 70's and 80's.

Their most recent event was wonderful: Meredith Monk's work was pleasing as always.

I wrote about the organization and specifically a piece by Per Norgard in my grad school admissions essay. The group and the composers they host are amazing.

Anyone familiar with Zappa's "orchestral" works?[/url]

[fist of doom]

i'm lucky enough to live with a full blown zappamaniac. she's sturned me on to a lot of his orhestral works. good stuff there.

[KC Masterpiece]

FOD,

I'm sure you would have much to discuss / gripe about with my former roomates / partners...

Any fav's?

[fist of doom]

i dug yellow shark. While i enjoyed most of his instrumental works, i was always more of a passive listener wheras i still seek out/listen to his stuff with the mothers

[puppydog]

does sigur ros count as classical?

[KC Masterpiece]

i dug yellow shark. While i enjoyed most of his instrumental works, i was always more of a passive listener wheras i still seek out/listen to his stuff with the mothers

Yeah, YS is great. "Seeing" the performance is even better. Fragments are available on YouTube (see especially, this; i'm fairly certain it is from YS).

The early Mothers' stuff will live forever

does sigur ros count as classical?

Sure! They definitely have a vibe that separates them from "rock" music proper.

Unfortunately contemporary classical music has become so inbred, that one of the first and primary qualifications to wield the title is an absolutely dreadful sound--i.e. the complete opposite of sigur ros. The sound, of course, is only one part of the equation and contemporary composers focus more on the score, how it is theoretically constructed (there is even a movement towards composing for what it LOOKS like). These sort of composers simply take this aspect of the musical work to the extreme and are thus immeadietly dismissed by anyone who likes the sound of music (god forbid!!).

That being said, Sigur Ros has a lot in common with many of the minimalists of the 80's who definitely "qualify" as contemporary classical music, or did at least. I haven't taken a super close look at their compositions and so can't speak to their precise theoretical similiarities, but the extended, repetitive harmonies and block chords do put them close to Philip Glass aesthetically and Steve Reich theoretically... I think...

They rock for sure.