After 1899

[sonnyhill]

Reading Moms's comments in the Classical Bargains thread prompted me to look into some of the composers that he mentioned -- Rzewski, Wolpe, Walker, Flynn, Bowen, Dussek, Bolcom. I had heard of Walker and had read Iverson's post on Walker on his website "Do the Math," but the rest were completely foreign to me.

I searched and did not find a thread dedicated to "classical" works published in 1900 and beyond. Who are the interesting composers? What are the interesting works? After Bartok and Shostakovich, what string quartets should I listen to? What should I be listening to in order to get myself oriented? I like piano quartets ( piano with string trio), what piano quartets written from 1900 to the present should I hear -- I have heard and do like Arthur Foote's. Is there a good comprehensive book that is available?

[MomsMobley]

Though I always liked him, I've become a huge admirer of Bohuslav Martinu, who did great work in all forms from solo piano to opera. His piano trios, string quartets, piano quartet etc should give great pleasure, elightenment. There's tendency to underrate Martinu because of near baroque fecundity but having heard nearly everything available, there's very little I'd want to do without. The Suprahon label especially is full of wonders, though Hogwood cond. violin concertante series on Hyperion is also excellent, likewise lots of Chandos discs etc.

Don't miss Ernst Bloch's quintets either--

much more to suggest, of course...

[uli]

from early years I dig this a lot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj5JxtVXMus

[StarThrower]

Don't no why people feel like they "should" be listening to anything in particular. Anyway, here's a link to a thread about more recent composers.

[A Lark Ascending]

Don't no why people feel like they "should" be listening to anything in particular. Anyway, here's a link to a thread about more recent composers.

Quite.

'After 1899' is a huge area; look at the 'what classical music are you listening to' thread and you'll find lots of pointers based on what board members are currently enjoying or exploring rather than just reading great lists of approved composers.

Alex Ross' 'The Rest is Noise' gives a very good survey of the 20thC and is an easy read. Though be careful - it is disapproved of by those who know. It was one of the things that helped me break past mid-century some years ago.

[Larry Kart]

Best survey of the 20th Century that I know is Paul Griffiths' "Modern Music and After":

http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Music-After-Paul-Griffiths/dp/019974050X/ref=asap_B000APG0QI_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417358427&sr=1-1

Some will say that Griffiths has a modernist bias, but he has a mind and a spine, and if you want to make course corrections, they are easily made.