Composers who tickle your fancy

[Asparagus Brown]

At the moment, I'm quite big on 20th Century Russian composers - Shostakovich and Stravinsky mostly. I think it's partly because I'm addicted to octatonicism, and they use it a lot, and blend it really nicely with other tonality. I also really like what they do rhythmically.

I'm also really into a lot of John Zorn at the moment, with Naked City stuff in particular.

How about you?

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

Stravinsky and Prokofiev for me, and Debussy. Those are my always and forever composers. I want to hear more of Faure' and Gorecki, and I really need to check out Messiaen. I'd argue for Gershwin, Bernstein, and Ellington being taken seriously as composers as well. I also actually like Phillip Glass.

 

[jim_doki]

I love Varese. Arcana is just amazing. Stravinski, Penderecki, Handel and John Cage

 

[meatloaf231]

Chopin.

 

[Asparagus Brown]

Stravinsky and Prokofiev for me, and Debussy. Those are my always and forever composers. I want to hear more of Faure' and Gorecki, and I really need to check out Messiaen. I'd argue for Gershwin, Bernstein, and Ellington being taken seriously as composers as well. I also actually like Phillip Glass.

It's funny you should mention Messiaen, because I think I need to listen to him a bit, too, and he was recommended to me yesterday.

I also agree about Gershwin, Bernstein and Ellington. It's getting to this cool stage in "art" music where different jazz and "classical" music are merging together, in a way. "Classical" music is starting to put emphasis on improvisation, while some jazz is written down note for note. I think it's great.

 

[Silentdemon]

Chic Corea.

 

[Lord Krunk]

Gershwin.

The Tim Schafer of music.

 

[khululy]

John williams
Minako Hamano ? Super Metroid (with Kenji Yamamoto), Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Zero Mission
Koji Kondo ? Super Mario Bros. series, The Legend of Zelda series, Star Fox series
Yasunori Mitsuda ? Chrono Trigger, Front Mission: Gun Hazard (with Nobuo Uematsu, Junya Nakano, and Masashi Hamauzu), Radical Dreamers, Chrono Cross, Mario Party, Xenogears, Legaia 2: Duel Saga, Shadow Hearts, Xenosaga
Motoi Sakuraba ? Tales of Phantasia (with Shinji Tamura), Tenshi no Uta: Shiroki Tsubasa no Inori, Zan Series, Star Ocean series, Golden Sun series, Arcus Series, Hiouden Series, Valkyrie Profile, Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, Baten Kaitos series.
Nobuo Uematsu ? Final Fantasy series.
Michiru Yamane ? Twinbee (NES), Castlevania: Bloodlines, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (with Soshiro Hokkai), Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (with Soshiro Hokkai and Takashi Yoshida), Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (with Yuzo Koshiro), Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, Gungage (with Sota Fujimori), Genso suikoden III (with Tadashi Yoshida and Masahiko Kimura)
Akira Yamaoka ? Silent Hill series, Contra: Shattered Soldier.

I know these are not world famous classical composers but they are noteworthy and I listen to their work a lot.

 

[The Wooster]

At the moment, I'm quite big on 20th Century Russian composers - Shostakovich and Stravinsky mostly. I think it's partly because I'm addicted to octatonicism, and they use it a lot, and blend it really nicely with other tonality. I also really like what they do rhythmically.

I'm also really into a lot of John Zorn at the moment, with Naked City stuff in particular.

How about you?

I like to think myself as a reasonably intelligent person but this post just downright horrifies me.

Um...I like Vangelis.

Edit: Shostakovich's symphony no 5 is so bloody epic.

 

[Asparagus Brown]

*Chuckles*

Sorry, I often get really caught up in music theory and exude jargon as if it were some kind of natural bodily function.

You're right about Symphony No. 5. It's certainly one of my favourites.

 

[khululy]

I like this article
A lot of youth shivers when mentioning classical music. I had that at first but then I started to realize how much classical music we listen to. Movies, commercials, samples or basic structures in guitar solos and ofcourse games.

I also liked Lux aeterna. such a tragic piece for such a tragic movie... *sob*

 

[Asparagus Brown]

I like this article
A lot of youth shivers when mentioning classical music. I had that at first but then I started to realize how much classical music we listen to. Movies, commercials, samples or basic structures in guitar solos and ofcourse games.

I also liked Lux aeterna. such a tragic piece for such a tragic movie... *sob*

It's strange the way it's one of those taboo topics that so many (often young) people instantly associate with "boring." But there are so many pieces out there that can be recognised by anyone from only having someone hum them a couple of bars, because it's become such an integrated part of culture.

And then there's music that's part of other media, like you said. The way I see, writing music for films and games is a modern replacement to writing for ballets, plays and operas (not to say those aren't being written for still, they're just not prominant as they once were). So it makes you wonder if people in a hundred years will still recognise the music from Star Wars or Mario like they do today. I hope so.

 

[The Wooster]

I like this article
A lot of youth shivers when mentioning classical music. I had that at first but then I started to realize how much classical music we listen to. Movies, commercials, samples or basic structures in guitar solos and ofcourse games.

I also liked Lux aeterna. such a tragic piece for such a tragic movie... *sob*

It's strange the way it's one of those taboo topics that so many (often young) people instantly associate with "boring." But there are so many pieces out there that can be recognised by anyone from only having someone hum them a couple of bars, because it's become such an integrated part of culture.

And then there's music that's part of other media, like you said. The way I see, writing music for films and games is a modern replacement to writing for ballets, plays and operas (not to say those aren't being written for still, they're just not prominant as they once were). So it makes you wonder if people in a hundred years will still recognise the music from Star Wars or Mario like they do today. I hope so.

Actually I wouldn't say "boring" is the number one connotation. In this cynical age the first thing I thought when I saw the topic title was "Mmmm delicious pretentiousness" Thankfully I was wrong.

 

[Asparagus Brown]

Actually I wouldn't say "boring" is the number one connotation. In this cynical age the first thing I thought when I saw the topic title was "Mmmm delicious pretentiousness" Thankfully I was wrong.

Yeah, music gets a bit that way. It's not quite up to the stage modern visual art is, though. In fact, a good quote from one of my friends about the minimalist section of an art gallery was "pompous dickheads painting shit." I quite like a lot of modern art forms, especially music, but you have to wonder if it's being taken too far when a score comes with a thesis explaining how the piece reflects "man's struggle against machine in post-modernist society..."

It'll be funny to see if games ever get to that stage... I guess it'll be similar to the way people dismiss games as a waste of time now, I guess. Except then they'll be saying "pompous dickheads programming shit" too!

 

[wewontdie11]

I must admit I do like a bit of Vivaldi, Chopin and Bach. In particular Nocturne Op. 9 by Chopin. Listened to part 2 of it a couple of minutes ago and remembered why I have it rated 5 stars on iTunes. Also The Four Seasons by Vivaldi is a beautiful piece of music too.

 

[Jamash]

I think I like most of them to be honest, I haven't really any much classical music I haven't liked.

Some of my favourite pieces are Mars by Holst, Night on the Bare Mountain by Mussorgsky, Wilhelm Tell Overture by Rossini, Canon in D by Pachabel, Sonata No. 14 by Beethoven.

But really I like it all, different composers & pieces depending on my mood or what I'm doing.

John Williams is excellent too, though I'm not too familiar with other modern composers. I really like Emuir Deodato is he count.

I also like an Estonian group called Rondellus, who did covers of Black Sabbath songs on medieval instruments & sung/chanted the lyrics in Latin.

Thanks Saint's Row for re-igniting my love of classical music, they classical station & music in that is the best selection I've even come across in a game.

 

[Integra]

Vivaldi and Barber keep cropping up on my playlists, as does Chopin, and somehow I can never press "skip."

Possibly because they're all really quite good.

 

[clarinetJWD]

Stravinsky and Prokofiev for me, and Debussy. Those are my always and forever composers. I want to hear more of Faure' and Gorecki, and I really need to check out Messiaen. I'd argue for Gershwin, Bernstein, and Ellington being taken seriously as composers as well. I also actually like Phillip Glass.

Try Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony. A truly amazing work, and very good for getting into his music.

As for 'actually liking' Glass, I'm a huge fan of minimalism...Glass, Adams, and Reich especially. Have you checked out Reich's Different Trains? It doesn't have as much impact on CD (It's written for string quartet + 3 pre-recorded string quartets + recorded samples + interview + live sound manipulation through a computer + video), but it is a great triumph of minimalism

 

[PhoenixFlame]

Love Pachabel's Canon in D, it's a great tune. Mars is great too, as is the Seasons.

As far as modern composers go, I've always enjoyed the work of Harry Gregson-Williams and Hans Zimmer. Beyond game work, there are quite a few movies that benefit from their composing and they all contribute to an "epic" feel.

 

[clarinetJWD]

I also agree about Gershwin, Bernstein and Ellington. It's getting to this cool stage in "art" music where different jazz and "classical" music are merging together, in a way. "Classical" music is starting to put emphasis on improvisation, while some jazz is written down note for note. I think it's great.

I'm a big fan of bringing other mediums into the classical world, and it's becoming more and more popular. Michael Daugherty's Bizarro features large wind ensemble and 3 complete rock drumsets on stage for quite the piece! Aaron Kernis also borrowed from urban music in New Era Dance. I know there are dozens more examples, but I can't really think of them right now...

Edit: I also love going to see live Jazz, as there's an energy there that you don't get anywhere else. Unfortunately, a lot of that is lost putting it on CD, because the thrill of not knowing what's going to happen next is removed. That's where studio composed Jazz comes in. My example of that is the Pat Metheney Group's album "The Way Up". There's so much creativity in the mixing and introduction of pre-recorded material (like street noise), as well as (sparing) use of synthesizers and classical instruments, the art is in the composition not the improvisation.