NationStates Jolt Archive


Faveourite classical composer

Exochina
13-03-2006, 17:56
I was watching the actors list on ch4 (uk) last nite, and i realised that you never see lists of high culture like plays and classical music etc.
So anyway, thats basically why i decided to do this. As i cant really find out anywhere else eg.lists on tv, i wanted to know what composers are popular with the public, ie. you lot.

I'll start with sum of my faves, and why i like em:

Olivier Messaien: I just love the eccentricity, the playfulness of the music, and particularly i like being able to follow what the music is doing, like in the turangalila symphony, theres almost no development of the musical material, so u always recognise what ur listening to, very pop music-like. I also like recognising the different aspects of his music that are based on bird calls.

Bela Bartok: Again, i like this composer for his eccentricity, his playfullness, his great, folky melodies, his wagnerian sense of romanticism and his expressionistic approach to orchestration and dissonance.

Arvo Part; kindof like a purified form of classical music. The music is generally static and doesnt really go anywhere. It manages to be serene and passionate at the same time.

Claude Debussy; i like the idea of there being something between tonality and atonality, between boring consonance and confusing dissonance. Debussy was the first composer i heard that presented this 'third option' to me. This is the main reason i got into him. Theres also something about his personality that really comes across in his music, something that gives his music a much more brutal, more intense, basically more interesting feel than that of a similarly styled composer such as ravel.

L. V. Beethoven; I mainly like the brooding intensity of his music, the piano sonatas in particular, although he also manages some sublimely sweet music eg. pathetique sonata 2nd Movt.

Frederyk Chopin; Pretty much holds the same appeal as beethoven, but more romantic, more chromatic.

Anyway, thats me pretty much done, who do you guys like?
Letila
13-03-2006, 18:04
Beethoven is probably my favorite. From what I've heard of Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and Wagner (which is admittedly not much), they're pretty good as well. I really don't like most of the Baroque and Classical era stuff a whole lot and most of the classical music made after the Romantics sounds like crap to me and I think much of it really betrays the spirit of classical.
Keruvalia
13-03-2006, 18:06
Anyway, thats me pretty much done, who do you guys like?

You do realise that, technically, nobody on your list is a "Classical" composer. The Classical period was 1750-1820.

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): Modern
Béla Bartók (1881-1945): 20th Century
Arvo Pärt (b. 1935): Modern
Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Romantic
Ludwig Von Beethoven (1770-1827): Fathered the Romantic period
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): Romantic

[/musical snobbery] :p

Personally, I prefer the Baroque composers to the Classical period.
Exochina
13-03-2006, 18:11
I know that.
I'm studying music at university at the moment. I know about the different eras, theres no need to patronise me.

I know it makes more sense to refer to it as "western art music" but this term is just too long-winded and misguiding. Its simpler just to say Classical music.
Keruvalia
13-03-2006, 18:14
I know that.
I'm studying music at university at the moment.

Never, ever, ever dumb yourself down just to pander to the lowest common denominator. Ever.
Exochina
13-03-2006, 18:14
I guess i have no idea how to work this forum. Anyone know why the thread and the poll are 2 separate things?
Exochina
13-03-2006, 18:17
The term classical music isnt strictly incorrect, its just ambiguous. If you say calssical era, u mean the classical era, if you say classical music u mean the genre of music.
This is the way the ppl at my conservatoire talk, so it has nothing to do with dumbing down, merely to avoid confusion, most ppl responding probably wont evern consider what u mentioned, even the ones who understand the difference between clasical era and romantic etc.
Exochina
13-03-2006, 18:23
Anyway, this thread isnt technically sposed to exist, so everyone post their comments on the thread that has the poll on it.