Classic contemporary composers (no atonal music!)?

Question

Hi

Do you know any good contemporary (1900 - 2011) composers who do NOT make atonal music ?

Please tell me some names, maybe also links to cd's on amazon or youtube!

PS: Above all I like baroque style and operas, but I'm ready for new genres (except atonal, dodecaphony)

Answer 1

The following list for you is arbitrary and incomplete:



Igor Stravinsky: Violin Concerto (youtube, Gil Shaham, violin) / Petrushka, full length ballet for large orchestra / Duo Concertant (youtube, Itshtak Perlman, vn; Bruno Canino, piano) / Concerto in D for String orchestra (youtube, ensemble named 'a far cry.') / Symphony of Psalms / Symphony in C / Apollo, for string orchestra.



Prokofiev: Five Piano Concertos / Two Violin Concertos / Symphonies / Seven Piano Sonatas / Scythian Suite, for orchestra / Alexander Nevsky, cantata for orchestra and chorus / Suggestion Diabolique, for piano / Toccata, for piano



Ravel: Miroirs, for piano / Concertos (2) for piano / Daphnis et Chloe, complete - ballet, for orchestra with additional wordless chorus. / Introduction and Allegro for Flute, Clarinet, Harp and Strings / trio for Piano, violin and cello / String Quartet.



Debussy: Nocturnes, for orchestra, No.3, 'Sirenes' includes wordless women's chorus / La Mer, a symphony / String Quartet / Sonata for flute, viola and harp / l'Apres midi d'un faun, for orchestra /

Danses Sacree et profane, for harp and strings / books of Etudes and Preludes for piano



Milhaud: Six petites Symphonies / Saudades de Brazil / La Creation du Monde / Wind Quintet



Samuel Barber: Piano Concerto / Violin Concerto / Cello Concerto / Capricorn Concerto / Knoxville summer of 1915, for Soprano and Orchestra / Excursions, for piano / piano sonata.



Lukas Foss: Song of Songs, for soprano and orchestra / Orpheus, for viola or cello and orchestra.



Hindemith: Mathis der Maler, suite for orchestra / Kammermusik No. 4, for violin and chamber orchestra



Alberto Ginastera, Dansas Argentinas, for piano



Luciano Berio: Sinfonia, for orchestra and amplified small choral ensemble, amplified piano / Visage, for soprano and prepared sounds on tape / Folk Songs, for soprano and small instrumental ensemble.



Olivier Messiaen: Vingt Regards sur l'enfant Jesus, for piano / Trois petites liturgies pour la presence divine, for orchestra, women's chorus, Ondes Martenot / Turangalila Symphony



John Adams: Shaker loops for string orchestra / Common tones in simple time, for orchestra / Harmonium, for chorus and large orchestra / Century rolls, for piano and orchestra.



Toru Takemitsu: Dorian Horizon, for string orchestra / Green, for orchestra



David Lang: Slow Music / The passing hours, for women's chorus and amplified instruments.



Manuel de Falla: Harpsichord Concerto / Nights in the Gardens of Spain, piano and orchestra



Francis Poulenc: Concerto for two pianos and orchestra / Gloria, for soprano, chorus and orchestra / Organ concerto, organ, strings and timpani / Concert Champetre, for harpsichord and orchestra /



Elliott Carter: Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord / Cello Sonata / Piano Sonata / A Symphony of three orchestras / String Quartets / Double concerto for piano, harpsichord and two orchestras.



Witold Lutoslawski: Symphony No. 3 / Piano Concerto



Einudi Raatavaara: Sinfonia Arctica / Symphony No. 6,



Shostakovich: Symphonies / two piano concertos / srring quartets.



Bartok: Music for Stringed Instruments, percussion and Celesta / Three piano concertos / Concerto for orchestra / Sonata for two pianos and percussion / Cantata Profana, for chorus and orchestra / The Miraculous Mandarin, a ballet score / Contrasts, for piano, violin and clarinet. / Six seriously good string quartets.



Christian Murail, contemporary french composer.



Einojuhani Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus, for orchestra and taped bird song ("concerto for birds") / Symphony No. 7 'Angel of Light.'



You can catch the drift: Find'em on youtube, the posting member's site usually has similar, often very knowing, and you can expand from there.





Best regards.



P.s. after checking out Eric's suggested clips, I cannot imagine that he or you are looking for anything remotely new-ish: the 'stuff' of those clips is like a pathetic attempt to write / re-write more Mendelssohn, Chopin and, even worse, John Williams and Danny Elfman etc. I can't imagine why those composers eric posted even bothered.....

When people with little listening experience and the most limited of taste and imagination start pronouncing music of their taste as 'great music,;.. then everyone is a critic, sort of like those clips themselves claim, "everyone is a fabulous composer." What a load of steaming pony loaf codswollop the music in those clips is, including the given opinion of it- IMHO.

Answer 2

Atonal Music Composers

Answer 3

There are literally 1000's of composers in the period you give who did not wtite atonal music. In 1900 Richard Strauss and Edward Elgar were at the height of their powers, as was Mahler. Vaughan Williams and Copland had not started to compose. You really need to do a little more research.

Answer 4

Igor Stravinsky

Dmitri Shostakovich

Percy Grainger

Aaron Copland

Gustav Holst

Answer 5

You waltz here, swashbuckling, apparently proud of your ignorance and bigotry, complain of an 'unfriendly' reception after you ((perhaps unintentionally?) insulted an Art that many here are devoted to, then gleefully rejoice when you come across 'eric's' pathetic recommendations, music that is a really poor copy of mid-19th Century music. He calls it music of the future! Profanity! Naughty words!



If you are serious about becoming aware of what happened in the last 150 years in music, can I recommend the list kindly supplied you by petr.b. Nothing on this list is going to shock you very much, but all of it has more than a chronological connection with the period you claim to be interested in exploring.

Answer 6

Are you seeking a composer to offer a commission to? Or are you looking for a piece to play by a contemporary composer?

Answer 7

-Film soundtracks could be a good place to start (depending on what you're looking for - if you like Baroque then try the soundtrack for 'The Mission' by Ennio Morricone).

-Arvo Part is enduringly popular (but maybe a bit light on 'tunes' for what you want).

-As mentioned below, the early 20th Century had a hell of a lot of tuneful classical works based on local folk idioms (see bartok, vaughan-williams, dvorak, elgar)



But tbh - if i were you, i'd try some compromise with some of the earlier 'modern' composers - personally i think Charles Ives's 'The Unanswered Question' is sublime because of the dirty noise of the woodwind. Have a look around - Shostakovitch, Stravinski etc. and see if you can understand why many people think they're up there with Bach et al.

Answer 8

John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Hans Zimmer, Alexandre Desplat...

Answer 9

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Whenever I perform a composition by Hindemith, I always think I have the melody, whether I really do or not. That is because Hindemith was such a great contrapuntalist. Bach is the only other composer for whom I can make this comment.



Hindemith is also one of the few modern composers who paid attention to the art of melody writing. He wrote an interesting book on his theory of "melodic progression," which contends that every good melody ever written is a variation of the ascending one-octave scale.



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Children enjoy playing Tcherepnin's set of short pieces, Exploring the Piano, in which a beginner plays a simple ostinato while a more advanced player plays something more challenging.



Tcherepnin and Kodaly are the only composers I know of who can write pentatonic piano music without affecting a pseudo-exotic style.



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Besides his pentatonic piano music, Kodaly wrote a set of sight-reading exercises, which helped get me through private voice classes.



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Janecek is one of the few composers who can compose effectively without following the ternary, rondo, and sonata blueprints.

Answer 10

@Ian E:"I am sometimes grumpy" ...No kidding.



Although I like a number of your other answers.

Answer 11

well in my opinion here are some of the worlds next great composers



Daniel Leo Simpson.

http://www.youtube.com/user/danielleosimpson

Daniel Hogan

http://www.youtube.com/user/danielhoganmusic

Eric Quezada

http://www.youtube.com/user/ERICQUEZADA95?feature=mhum

Theodosis Christides

http://www.youtube.com/user/theo1ch