Alfredo
Alfredo
21 apr 20

DeRank™: 14,37

Outsider music: classics of American classical music (46) - Morton Feldman - Rothko Chapel (1971) Morton Feldman ~ Rothko Chapel Another important and bizarre modernist American composer, he was part of Cage's circle, but he distinguished himself for composing absolutely original music, based on isolated and lengthy sounds. Famous is the "Fantozzian" duration of some of his pieces, like the second Quartet which exceeds 5 hours.
Alfredo
Alfredo
20 apr 20

DeRank™: 12,00

Outsider music: classics of American classical music (47) - George Crumb - Makrokosmos I (1972) Crumb - Makrokosmos I, Twelve Fantasy-Pieces after the Zodiac [Audio + Score] Without a doubt, one of the most brilliant composers of the second half of the twentieth century. A Pulitzer Prize winner in the late '60s and later fundamental works for modern music, such as this Makrokosmos, for amplified piano, a highly significant piece for modern piano. A little curiosity: one of his small pieces is also included in the soundtrack of The Exorcist.
Alfredo
Alfredo
20 apr 20

DeRank™: 8,31

Outsider music: classics of American classical music (48) - Walter Piston - Fantasy for English Horn, Harp & Strings (1952) Walter Piston - Fantasy for English Horn, Harp, & Strings (Score Video) [1952] One of the great academics of 20th-century America, as well as a renowned teacher, his harmony manual is still one of the most famous in the world (the "Piston"). Quite traditional for most of his career, he experienced a reevaluation in later life that led him to compose more modernist works.
Alfredo
Alfredo
19 apr 20

DeRank™: 6,00

Outsider music: classics of American classical music (49) - Carl Ruggles - Angels (1938) Carl Ruggles - Angels {original version for muted brass} Well, here we’re talking about a truly "acrobatic" figure in American music. A composer far from prolific (I have his almost complete edition and it fits into just two CDs), one of the early American modernists (he was born in 1874): very brusque character and ultraconservative ideas, seemingly also racist and segregationist, a bit of everything, really. But he had talent to spare, and his proverbial calmness in writing and reworking allowed us to have few pieces, but of absolute high quality.
Alfredo
Alfredo
19 apr 20

DeRank™: 12,40

Outsider music: classics of American classical music (50) - Leonard Bernstein - Divertimento for Orchestra (1980) Bernstein Divertimento It is undeniable that Bernstein is more famous as a conductor than as a composer, but his catalog is quite rich and includes some peaks of excellence. According to experts, his works suffer from excessive eclecticism and shallowness (and lightness), which is fairly common among conductor/composers; clearly, working extensively on others' material doesn't always benefit one’s own production. That said, I enjoy some of his works, for example this Divertimento composed in 1980, intentionally lighthearted but charming.
Alfredo
Alfredo
18 apr 20

DeRank™: 9,00

Outsider music: classics of American classical music (51) - Henry Cowell - Symphony No.16 "Icelandic" (1962) Henry Cowell: Symphony No.16 "Icelandic" (1962) One of the first and most important American experimentalists, a beacon for people like John Cage. A troubled life, a youth marked by the avant-garde, imprisonment for "obscenity" (due to his bisexuality; indeed, one might imagine a robbery for his years in jail, but it was due to the disgusting medieval inquisition), a return to classical forms, as in this symphony, in his later years. To be rediscovered.
Alfredo
Alfredo
17 apr 20

DeRank™: 12,79

Outsider music: classics of American classical music (52) - Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians (1976) Music for 18 Musicians The symbol of minimalism, a movement that has always divided critics and musicians between great invention and trivial stuff. However, Reich has always been loved across the board; he truly seems to be the most "artistic" and serious among the minimalists. His music is evocative and fascinating.
Alfredo
Alfredo
17 apr 20

DeRank™: 10,07

Outsider music: classics of American classical (53) - John Cage - Piano Concerto (1951) John Cage: Concerto for Prepared Piano and Chamber Orchestra (1950/1951) Some hate him, some love him, some consider him a fool, some a genius. In short, hardly in the history of music has a composer been so divisive. He was certainly one of the most important musical figures of the 20th century. Ladies and gentlemen: Giovanni Gabbia!
Alfredo
Alfredo
16 apr 20

DeRank™: 6,00

Outsider music: classics of American classical music (54) - Roger Sessions - Piano Sonata No. 2 (1946) Roger Sessions: Sonata per pianoforte No.2 (1946) Great composer and great teacher, one of the most important figures in 20th-century American music, after neoclassical beginnings he shifted to twelve-tone writing, creating an absolutely personal language (just like Carter) and producing a large number of pieces: from piano sonatas (like this one) to symphonies and concertos. Pulitzer Prize winner in 1982 (at 86 years old!) with his Concerto for Orchestra.
Alfredo
Alfredo
16 apr 20

DeRank™: 6,00

Outsider music: classics of American classical (55) - Elliott Carter - A Symphony of Three Orchestras (1976) A Symphony of Three Orchestras The dean of American music, the one who persevered the longest, composing right up until a few days before his death at the age of 103 in 2012. Carter took quite a long time to find his voice (he reached his 40s before developing a personal style), but what emerged afterward places him among the most important modernist composers of the late 20th century. Like this masterpiece from 1976.
Alfredo
Alfredo
15 apr 20

DeRank™: 10,66

Outsider music: classics of American classical music (56) - William Schuman - New England Triptych (1956) William Schuman, New England Tryptich A child of Hindemith's neoclassicism (thus austere music, rhythmically bold and not easily digestible), Schuman was probably one of the best American symphonists and orchestrators of the 20th century, as well as one of my absolute favorites. Also well-known as an "arts administrator," he was the head of the Juilliard High School and later president of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, helping many young American composers.
Alfredo
Alfredo
15 apr 20

DeRank™: 9,00

Outsider music: classics of American classical music (57) - Samuel Barber - Adagio For Strings (1936) Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings Probably the most famous American composition of the 20th century, it has become almost a curse for its composer. For 99% of the population, Barber is "the one who wrote the Adagio." A somewhat reactionary composer, but talented, Barber spent the twentieth century shaping a sort of (neo)romanticism that was out of time, and in this field, he was probably the best across the ocean. There is so much more beyond the renowned Adagio.
Alfredo
Alfredo
14 apr 20

DeRank™: 12,43

Outsider music: classics of American classical (58) - George Gershwin - An American In Paris (1928) George Gershwin - "An American in Paris" Perhaps the most famous American composer in absolute terms, his music, balancing between classical, light, and jazz, is still remembered by many enthusiasts today. His meeting with Ravel is legendary, with the Frenchman responding honestly, "Why would you want to be a second-rate Ravel when you can be a first-rate Gershwin?"
Alfredo
Alfredo
14 apr 20

DeRank™: 9,57

Outsider music: classics of American classical music (59) - Aaron Copland - Piano Variations (1930) Aaron Copland: Piano Variations (1930) After Ives, certainly the most important American composer ever, had various phases: the youthful/modernist phase, the mature and populist (in a good sense) phase, and the late phase in which he attempted to approach (timidly) dodecaphony. These Piano Variations are considered by many as a totem of 20th-century pianism and are part of the first phase of his career.
Alfredo
Alfredo
14 apr 20

DeRank™: 11,31

Outsider music: classics of American classical music (60) - Charles Ives - The Unanswered Question (1908) Ives: The Unanswered Question The first authentically American composer, the one who gave rise to the "American school," after centuries of not very original European epigones. An insurance agent, a hobbyist composer (and was thus snubbed for a long time), he is now remembered as one of the great names of the early twentieth century, alongside the more famous Schoenberg and Stravinsky. He only managed to get recognition for his work late in life, when he had already stopped composing for decades, thanks also to the worthy efforts of conductors like Leonard Bernstein in re-evaluating his contributions.
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