[kwitel]

Im looking for more modern sounding classical, reminiscent of present day classical movie soundtracks. (Ennio Morricone, Clint Mansel, Philip Glass, Dario Marianelli, Eric Serra, etc...)

Im not necessarily looking for minimal music; I would like to learn more about the modern composers' individual works.

Would be looking for material similar to the music in these soundtracks:

Clint Mansell-The Fountain
Ennio Morricone-The Mission (although I can do without all the high pitch singing)
Eric Serra-Leon
Michael Nyman-The Piano
Philip Glass-The Hours

And I am a huge Ludovico Einaudi fan.

 

[tru blu]

You could probably pick your way through the repertoire of violinist Gidon Kremer, who has a knack for uncovering modern composers who aren't necessarily minimalists. One of my favorite discs of his is Impressions D'Enfance, a piano/violin duo of compositions by Georges Enescu, Ervín Schulhoff and Béla Bartók. He's also recorded a nice disc called Le Cinema, another predominately piano/violin collaboration, featuring 20th-Century film music. Might be worth a shot.

Oh, and maybe a symphony by the Korean composer Isang Yun. They're excellent, but admittedly perhaps a bit more intense than Michael Nyman or Ludovico Einaudi.

I'll let someone else try to sell you on Arvo Pärt, everybody's favorite minimalist.

 

[kwitel]

Thanks!

 

[Uncle Erik]

X2 on Arvo Part. You might also want to look into Sibelius.

 

[scompton]

I love this Ennio Morricone. It's from the sound tracks for various Italian mysteries.


I saw Britten's opera Peter Grimes last week and the music in it is excellent, although sparse. There is a suite of orchestral music from it called Sea Interludes. It's very reminiscent of movie music. I've read somewhere that Britten began his professional career as a radio show composer. I don't own a copy of the suite so I can't recommend one in particular.

I've liked everything I've heard by Ralph Vaughan Williams. I own a complete symphonies conducted by Boult, as well as some individual discs of the symphonies and other orchestral works.

I own a 2 disc set of chamber works by Francis Poulenc that I like a lot. It doesn't sound much like movie music however.


One of my favorite films is Koyaanisqatsi which is essentially a feature length Philip Glass video. I've not heard the music without the video so I'm not sure how it stands up on it's own.

Another disc I have that is very nice is Reiner conducting Hovhaness, Stravinsky, and Prokofiev. The Prokofiev is a suite from a film score.


Other obvious choices would be Copeland, Bernstein, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, John Williams, etc

 

[doping panda]

I don't suppose suggesting Alfred Schnittke would be a good decision, would it?

I think Prokofiev and Shostakovich would be good for you, particularly Shostakovich.

 

[kwitel]

As for Part, Prokofiev and Shostakovitch-which in particular to start with?

 

[Ubijza]

Shostakovich - Jazz Suite, Piano Concerto no2
Prokofiev - Toccata in D, Suggestion Diabolique, Romeo and Juliet

 

[tru blu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel /img/forum/go_quote.gif As for Part, Prokofiev and Shostakovitch-which in particular to start with?

Shostakovich:

Gidon Kremer - Edition Lockenhaus, Vol. 4/5 Great live chamber music


Arvo Pärt: You'll get ten different answers for this, and none of them are wrong. It's easy to get obsessive about Pärt's music, and if you search Head-fi's archives you'll probably find a couple of threads.

Tabula Rasa

Te Deum

Kanon Pokajanen

 

[kwitel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tru blu /img/forum/go_quote.gif Shostakovich: Gidon Kremer - Edition Lockenhaus, Vol. 4/5 Great live chamber music Arvo Pärt: You'll get ten different answers for this, and none of them are wrong. It's easy to get obsessive about Pärt's music, and if you search Head-fi's archives you'll probably find a couple of threads. Tabula Rasa Te Deum Kanon Pokajanen

Thanks.

Which of the above Part selections are purely instrumental?
Not into the choir work...yet.

 

[tru blu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Which of the above Part selections are purely instrumental?

Oops…sorry about that…you stated that preference up top. Tabula Rasa is instrumental pieces, and so is Alina.

 

[userlander]

John Adams (Shaker Loops, Harmonium)
David Diamond (Rounds for Strings)
Steve Reich (almost anything)
Samuel Barber (Adagio for Strings, Symph. in 1 movement, Violin concerto)
Elliot Carter (take your pick)
Igor Stravinksy (see avatar

) (Firebird Suite, Petrushka, Rite of Spring, Pulcinella, etc.)

 

[Aman]

Some highly recommended avant-garde and electronic music of the 20th century:

Terry Riley is one of the most important composers of minimalist music, and was much more provocative than self-proclaimed minimalist masters such as Phillip Glass.
Terry Riley - In C and Olson III

Karlheinz Stockhausen is regarded as the godfather of electronic music, and also did a lot of intriguing work with spatial composition, timbres, and explorations of the human voice.
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Stimmung, Kontakte, and Gruppen

Luciano Berio is a primary member of the 20th century Italian avant-garde, and employed a wide array of serialist tendancies and tape machine operations to create a rather single-voiced approach to composition.
Luciano Berio - Thema (Omaggio a Joyce) and the Sequenza series

I. Xenakis is one of the most famous Greek composers, mostly due to his pioneering work in computer music and unique orchestral music, though his work for solo instruments should also be noteworthy due to their extremely prodigious nature and rarely-seen level of detail.
Iannis Xenakis - Metastaseis, Nomos alpha (for cello), Evryali (for piano), and GENDY3 (for computer synthesis)

John Zorn is the avant-garde world's pop musician; a brilliant, zany, and multi-talented musician and composer who utilizes literally every imaginable musical influence, from all aspects of geography and era, as influence on his works. His chamber music is regarded by many as among the best compositions of the 20th century. He is the only composer I've heard who can clearly utilize more than 3 genres within a 2-minute composition!
John Zorn - Elegy and Kristallnacht

 

[kwitel]

Aman-thanks for the suggestions.
Just to be clear, I am not looking for the super minimal type material (am still new to the genre so forgive my innability to properly write out exactly what im looking for).

The very repetitive music I can appreciate but it lacks the emotion that I am looking for. For example, much of Glass's Glassworks it just too repetitive for me while the music he made for "the Hours" soundtrack is right up my alley.

That said, which of your recommendations are right for me (if not all)?

Picked up Part's Tabula Rosa today and its beautiful. Will take me some time to fully appreciate though...

 

[FalconP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doping panda /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't suppose suggesting Alfred Schnittke would be a good decision, would it? I think Prokofiev and Shostakovich would be good for you, particularly Shostakovich.

The late works of Schnittke (like his symphonies 8 and 9) are actually rather tame: consonant, rarified and "moody" in a soundtrackish manner. I don't necessarily say I recommend them, but for anyone looking for the more "comfortable" style of 20-century music, these works are worth investigating.

Prokofiev has done lots of music for films (e.g. Ivan the Terrible; Alexander Nevsky) and stage (e.g. the ballet Romeo and Juilet). Most are essential masterpieces. On the contrary, the film music by Shostakovich are often hack-works, so you better stick with his symphonies and chamber music.

As for the instrumental music of Arvo Part, you'll need Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten. Simply magical: you won't suspect such a bare structure (just a descending scale played at different tempo) can be invested with so much feeling.

And speaking of Part, you may as well look at another Baltic-states composer Peteris Vasks, whose orchestral works are slowly insinuating themselves on concert platforms.