Quality Cucumber

I'm going to interpret the word "contemporary" as anything around World War II to the present day, since you're bringing up Phillip Glass, who is 78 at the time that I am writing this.

I'm with Zack. Spectralism is a marvelous movement. I particularly enjoy Gérard Grisey's "Vortex Temporum" and Tristan Murail's "Gondwana". I am a sucker for expansive music. Even though "Gondwana" is comparatively short, the title is evocative and the processes are beautiful (FFT FTW). Horațiu Rădulescu's music is crazy stuff. "Inner Time II" captivates me. "Clepsydra" is just nuts from a logistical standpoint, and the sounds are beautiful (the orchestration is 16 "sound icons," which are pianos that are flipped so that the performer can bow the strings). "Byzantine Prayer" is another one of those that is full of cool sounds (40 flautists playing 72 flutes).

Going back to the mid-twentieth century, I like Olivier Messiaen's "Quatuor pour la fin du temps" and Béla Bartók's "Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta" as well as the string quartets (4 and 5 especially). Meesa likey George Crumb. "Vox Balaenae" and "Echoes of Time and the River (Echoes II)".

Henryk Górecki's 2nd and 3rd symphonies are massive and reflect some very deep parts of humanity. I find his works moving, if difficult to sit through. (The last, what, six minutes of the third symphony is an A chord? Enough already!) On that note, most of the big names that came out of the Polish Renaissance are fantastic. Penderecki's "The Dream of Jacob" is awesome, "Polymorphia" is hilarious (or at least I hear it as such). Witold Lutosławski's "Jeux vénitiens" and the cello concerto... stunning.

I've always liked Milton Babbitt's sense of humor and unrelenting attitude. I can't link it (post count too low), but Bad Plus did an arrangement of Babbitt's "Semi-Simple Variations". There's a music video on Youtube of them playing it while three girls dance to it. I think the composer would have approved. Babbitt's essays are a hoot, if you ever get a chance to read them. I wish I had one iota of that man's ability to articulate.

As for composers who are active right now and doing their thing, Brendan Faegre's "Four Koans" has been an inspiration to me since I heard it. I can't decide if I like Mauro Lanza's output or not.

Frownland

Knock knock
Who's there?
Philip Glass
Philip Glass who?
Knock knock
Who's there?
Philip Glass
Philip Glass who?
Knock knock
Who's there?
Philip Glass
Philip Glass who?
Knock knock
Who's there?
Philip Glass
Philip Glass who?
Knock knock
Who's there?
Philip Glass
Philip Glass who?
etc.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

C.jejuni

I don't listen to much modern music, but I ocassionally listen to Bartók, Penderecki, Ligeti and Shostakovich. About 90% of that is Shostakovich. I also have Britten's War Requiem and some stuff by Hindemith gathering dust somewhere in my collection.

Glass is really nice, but somehow I only ever listened to him playing Civ IV.

Zyrada

I think the composer you're thinking of that had pieces on Civ IV was Adams. The entire soundtrack for the Modern Era featured his works.

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C.jejuni

I'm pretty sure there was an instrumental piece of Philip Glass. But I would have to reinstall and browse the music folder do confirm. I'm not talking about the Nixon in China excerpt.

Edit: Nevermind, you're right, not sure why I thought otherwise.

Zyrada

I'm mostly confident on that because it was the game that introduced me to my favorite Adams piece, Harmonielehre.

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33veränderungen

I think that the Piano Guys take a really interesting spin on classical music, and I appreciate the talent that they have to combine classical style with contemporary songs such as "Let it Go," "Just the Way You Are," "What Makes You Beautiful," and lots more. They are so great!

kfinchharpist

Check out Project Fusion Saxophone Quartet!!