Opera

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp
The one that's reckoned to be the opera equivalent of climbing Everest or passing the SAS selection testing for female singers is "Lucia di Lammermoor"- one that Boris mentions.

Actually, the title role in Bellini's Norma is, by consensus, the most difficult role for a soprano in the repetoire. It is, however, an inferior opera overall compared to Lucia.

[Nostromo]

There are also a host of 20th century composers I'd recommended, including Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Bartok (...)

Yes, they're amazing. A friend told me that The Turn of the Screw by Britten is very good. I also like Debussy and Ravel, not sure if they're considered 20th century composers though.

You do get into a bit more...difficult music when you get iinto the 20th century. I wouldn't recommend Schoenberg, Webern or Berg to anyone just looking for enjoyable music to which to listen, as it is predominantly atonal. Berg's operas Wozzeck and Lulu are dramatically terrific, but you won't find much pleasing in the music (IMO).

I agree, its more difficult, but ultimately it depends where you come from. If you're used to pop and classic rock, you will find Stockhausen and Varèse difficult to listen to. The same thing if you're used to Mozart and Haydn. Karl Popper, for example, said that what Webern, Berg and Schoenberg were doing wasn't even music. And he even studied under Webern for a while. According to Popper, after Mozart, it all went downhill. Otoh, if you listen to experimental techno, experimental rock or industrial music, you will probably enjoy contemporary or actual music a lot more. Brian Eno, for example, said once that Mozart bored him to tears.

[Boris Godunov]

Webern himself discovered that what he had been doing was rubbish, and Schoenberg went on to proclaim that atonalism was dead.

The amusing thing was that Webern had a theory that if he used all these incredibly complex calculations to make his music, it would lead to some new revelatory compostions. In fact, the result sounded exactly like any other atonal music that was being written at the time.

[Space05us]

Thanks for all the suggestions

My mom is downloading some music, ripping it to cds, and sending to me.

[Nostromo]

Webern himself discovered that what he had been doing was rubbish, and Schoenberg went on to proclaim that atonalism was dead.

I don't know about Webern, but what Schoenberg and Berg were doing wasn't rubbish. I would even say that Berg's Violin Concerto, for example, is a beautiful piece of music. When and why did Schoenberg proclaim that atonalism was dead?

Anyway, these guys are old hat. Do you know any good contemporary composer, someone who's still alive? In other words: is "classical" music dead? Someone once explained to me that contemporary classical music is called contemporary music, not to be confused with actual music, an offspring of jazz. So is contemporary music alive and well?

[Dr Strangelove]

I think that to some degree classical music lives on, chiefly in movie scoring. I'm certain that some purists will disagree with me, but I contend that if you search you'll find numerous examples of decent symphonic musical scores produced by the film industry every year. This type of music however is not generally published in the form of symphonioes, concertos, and etc. as was classical music in the past.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
I think that to some degree classical music lives on, chiefly in movie scoring. I'm certain that some purists will disagree with me, but I contend that if you search you'll find numerous examples of decent symphonic musical scores produced by the film industry every year. This type of music however is not generally published in the form of symphonioes, concertos, and etc. as was classical music in the past.

Like the recent Final Fantasy Symphony tour?

[Nostromo]

I'm certain that some purists will disagree with me, but I contend that if you search you'll find numerous examples of decent symphonic musical scores produced by the film industry every year.

A lot of people who listen to classical music are snobs: they would dismiss movie scores without even listening to the music. But a music lover with an open mind could probably find some gems.

But I guess a lot of good classical music is being made outside of the movie industry. Its just that we don't know about it. One example that comes to mind is John Zorn. Now most of his music is very experimental and can't be called contemporary classical music. But some of his work, like the music he made for chamber ensembles, could be called contemporary classical music. And it's pretty good too.

Contemporary classical music is often weird and hard to listen to. That's why most people who listen to classical music don't listen to the contemporary stuff. And sometimes it doesn't even sound like classical music. For example, electroacoustic music doesn't sound like anything done before: there's no melody, no rythm, its just sounds and noises. It has more affinities with some forms of techno than anything else. No wonder electroacoustic music had an influence on techno.

[Nostromo]

For those of you who are interested, here's the Wikipedia entry on contemporary classical music:

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

[Dr Strangelove]

I admit that most of the guys listed on wikipedia, except for Phillip Glass, I've never heard of. I have little love for avante garde or minimalist versions of classical music.

Film composers who sometimes create pieces that might be considered classical would include John Williams, John Barry, James Horner, Daniel Elfman, and I'm surer that there are others. I might note that Phillip Glass seems to have abandoned the minimalist camp.

[Nostromo]

I admit that most of the guys listed on wikipedia, except for Phillip Glass, I've never heard of.

Me neither. I know 3 of them: the others, I've never heard of.

Some of the musicians listed made music for movies, or their music was used in movies. For example, remember the weird choir in "2001: A space odyssey" when humans got near a monolith? That's György Ligeti.

John Williams is a good example. He wrote a lot of memorable themes for movies. But I don't know how his work would assessed by music critics. Irc, Boris pointed out, for example, that the Imperial March was ripped off from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.

[Agathon]

Real men like Wagner.

The other stuff is for women and homosexuals.

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by Agathon
Real men like Wagner.

The other stuff is for women and homosexuals.

Homosexuals aren't real men?

[Agathon]

The ones who don't like Wagner aren't.

As are the other non-gay Wagner haters.

Wagner.

I thought you were a Humperdinck man yourself, G... is that not correct?

[Giancarlo]

Humperdinck man?