10 Musical Masterworks Since 1960

[@jgesselberty]

I have been in love with the Walton: Hindemith Variations from the first time I heard them. An amazing work that does not get played often.

[@olliepops1124]

I love all these: -Concerto for String Orchestra, op. 39 (Leighton) -Double Piano Concerto (Françaix) -De Staat (Andriessen) -Cantus Arcticus (Rautavaara) -Ainsi la nuit (Dutilleux) -Symphony No. 4 (Bacri) -La Courte Paille (Poulenc) -War Requiem, op. 66 (Britten)

[@johnmiller6780]

Thank you, Dave. A great list. Works become classics when they are talked about. Thanks for spreading the word of mouth.

[@r0noak]

mine would be 1. Dmitri Shostakovich: 15th Symphony (1971) 2. Karlheinz Stockhausen: Hymnen (1967) 3. Alfred Schnittke: 8th Symphony (1994) 4. Alfred Schnittke: 1st Symphony (1974) 5. Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa (1977) 6. Elliott Carter: Symphony of Three Orchestras (1976) 7. Witold Lutosławski: 3rd Symphony (1983) 8. Meredith Monk: Dolmen Music (1979) 9. Morton Feldman: String Quartet No. 2 (1983) 10. György Ligeti: Atmosphères (1961)

[@marktanney3347]

The Rautavaara is really beautiful. I loved it. I also just happened to run into Symphony # 8 and listened to that. It is very different from #7 and also very powerful and impressive. It almost seemed like program music for a great intergalactic spiritual journey. I also listened to the Shostakovich #15 which was such an amazing piece. I am really enjoying all these more modern pieces.

[@truBador2]

Thanks for the Walton. I didn't know this! Great stuff.

[@fabiopaolobarbieri2286]

I admire Walton greatly, more than Britten, perhaps. His trouble is that he published so little.

[@steveschwartz8944]

Excellent list. And there's so much out there since 1960 that one could come up with several vastly different lists.

[@Jack-dt9nu]

14:30 I think this is an interesting point particularly regarding composer-supervised recordings. When I think of Philip Glass, I think of all those 80s and 90s recordings by the Philip Glass Ensemble or by the man himself on the piano. I think we're starting to get a trickle of others recording and performing his works more now in the traditional way, like Vikingur Olafsson's recent lovely album.

[@gerthenriksen8818]

A really good list. Thanks. Maybe also Copland "Connotations".

[@chrischinnery7515]

Thanks so much for this. So much to listen to. I'll get to it!

[@richardbowker1338]

Well I'm addicted to your chats, and this ranks really high. I wish I could let you know how much pleasure and knowledge you give. I suppose I just have to gush.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thank you! I appreciate it very much.

[@irekmichal2005]

Romitelli: An index of Metals; Berio: Folk songs; Stockhausen: In Freunschaft Penderecki: Quartet for clarinet and string trio; Lutoslawski: Symphony no.3; Gòrecki: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs; Ligeti: Violin concerto;

[@pelodelperro]

That Romitelli piece is fantastic! First time listening. Thank you for the recommendation.

[@irekmichal2005]

@@pelodelperro 👍😊

[@MrInterestingthings]

Romitelli dat's A uno opera nuovo .

[@davidbo8400]

The beginning of Romitelli's piece is a series of false starts sampling the synthesizer segment introducing Pink Floyd's "Shine on you crazy diamond", which he eventually adds some uninteresting electronic flourishes to. Sounded rather vain, pointless and gimmicky. IRCAM meets progressive pop on a pavement-grey day, that's how it sounded to me, so a pretty poor start. The 3rd part ("hellucination 1, "drowngirl") made me nauseous. That's one thing I don't listen to music for, so I stopped listening from this point. That's never going to become a classic and it isn't a masterpiece either, sorry

[@irekmichal2005]

@DAVID BO its OK. It's not for everyone. You are more Appalachian Spring type of guy, I guess. And that's fine. Whatever makes us happy 😊

[@davidmayhew8083]

Thanx so much Dave!

[@steveschwartz8944]

10 choral masterpieces since 1960: 1. Poulenc - Gloria 2. Britten - War Requiem 3. Shostakovich - Symphony No. 13 4. Reich - Tehillim 5. C. Shaw - Partita 6. Rosner - Masses 7. Bernstein - Chichester Psalms 8. Weinberg - Symphony No. 8 9. Adams - Klinghoffer Choruses 10. Walton - Gloria

[@elijahstewart3231]

Schnittke concerto?

[@steveschwartz8944]

@elijahstewart3231 slipped my mind. But which work would you replace?

[@elijahstewart3231]

@@steveschwartz8944 Oh that's tough haha. I guess the Poulenc but purely on the basis of my lack of familiarity and not as a judgement of its quality

[@pelodelperro]

Great list as always! There's just so much to choose from. I'd like to mention Golijov's La pasión según San Marcos. It has it's own unique sound world that sounds avant-garde without going atonal.

[@truBador2]

ELP brought me here. Once upon a time I played the Toccatta over the high school PA system. It was by accident. Interesting moment.

[@alexhamilton9758]

"Of Numbers and Bells" by Arnold Rosner. The best piece of piano music from post WW2 that I've heard. Modern and mysterious, but accessible.

[@keesvanes2311]

Moi j'adore: - Hymnen (Stockhausen) - Métaboles (Dutilleux) - Des canyons aux étoiles (Messiaen) - Desert Music (Reich) - De Staat (Andriessen) - Oktophonie (Stockhausen) - Chamber Concerto (Ligeti) - In Tempus Praesens (Gubaidulina) - From me flows what you call time (Takemitsu) - Sinfonia (Berio)

[@justinandmaxgames5472]

Allan Pettersson Sym. 9. Unreal - the first time I heard it I nearly hit the ceiling.

[@ammcello]

Hear hear to the Walton Hindemith Variations. Freaking brilliant piece based on a beautiful theme from a wonderful concerto!

[@ftumschk]

Excellent choices. Just goes to show that "classical" music didn't die in the early 20th Century.

[@ModusVivendiMedia]

I like Wojciech Kilar's Orawa, which has been popular in concert halls and has also been recorded a few times in various versions. It's a small piece compared to most of what you listed, but very well put together. Another short piece I like a lot is John Adams's Short Ride in a Fast Machine. Fun pieces that I don't believe have been recorded yet (except in KZbin videos) are Viet Cuong's Extra(ordinarily) Fancy and Re(new)al. Of course there's also Kapustin's Piano Concerto No. 4.

[@fulltongrace7899]

Kilar wrote the film score to the Dracula 1992 movie which is very moving. Listen to the track Mina/Elisabeth. So moving.

[@anthonycook6213]

Thank you for a list of some works that I haven't heard of. I was lucky to see the LA premieres of Crumb's Music For A Summer Evening and Voice of the Whale (the latter in a theater that only held 25 people). To me, his work is a musical equivalent to the best literature of Ray Bradbury. I think the future will consider the works of Frank Zappa (Inca Roads and Don't Eat the Yellow Snow as examples I know) for inclusion in the great music of post-1960.

[@CloudyMcCloud00]

Great idea. What about Shostakovich's Babi-Yar (1962)? Arguably more important than the 15th! I also feel a need to make the case for Michael Tippett: Symphonies 3 & 4; and also Concerto for Orchestra (to name a few) -- all after 1960.

[@JohnBowen-z2e]

Babi Yar is fantastic.

[@CloudyMcCloud00]

Also don't forget Heitor Villa-Lobos (d. 1959). The last three piano concertos and symphonies nos. 8-12 all date from 1950. I think no.8 ("Amerindian") may be his greatest work. Also Ligeti Le Grand Macabre (1977)!

[@HD-su9sq]

The only way we find cream now is through this channel! Without you, we would be stuck with only Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms.

[@hutaolover6665]

id like to add georgy sviridovs snowstorm suite (from i think the 60s) critics might say everything in it has already been done and that it brings new to the table and yada yada but i think it’s a wonderful piece of music and a (somewhat) hidden gem among late 20th century music, i particularly like the romance and troika

[@matherpfeiffenberger9439]

Britten: War Requiem (1962)

[@ftumschk]

Agreed. That would definitely be in my Top 10, as would Penderecki's St Luke Passion (1966).

[@vKarl71]

The greatest 20th century work, I feel. I was fortunate enough to hear the NY Phil play it in the Church of St John the Divine, the kind of venue for which it was written. One of the most moving musical events of my life.

[@MrInterestingthings]

Thanks for your list ! Higdon is getting the respect she deserves! Arnold I should really get to know. His name is often trouted out(9 Symphonies too!) .Crumb died last year2022 so I need to hear more of his music. Schnittke is chezmoi but I need to become more familiar with so much of his music! Rautavarra may be along with Gorecki the only ones on your list selling any cd's that's a bad sign meaning they won't be heard in 30 years.Saariaho might be her operas command attention! Did Rzewsky write much symphonic music tons of piano scores.I must find a workslist.

[@grahamexeter3399]

Terrific selection as always. Like the Beethoven symphonies, every classical music loving home should have them!

[@consul4140]

Speaking of Crumb, I recently heard his "Metamorphoses" for amplified piano (Book I (2015-2017) & Book II (2018-2020)) on Bridge Records. Not exactly easy listening, but fascinating. He was an outstanding figure in the contemporary musical landscape.

[@iankemp1131]

Very interesting set of choices, thanks. Personally I prefer Shostakovich 13 with he wonderful Babi Yar movement to 15. But also interesting that you omit some popular but substantial music in a different idiom, notably Karl Jenkins, such as "The Armed Man". Gorecki's Symphony No. 3 has been mentioned below although it has lost its wild popularity from the 1990s. In the UK, Classic FM has been notable for popularising some modern works including those above and the Philip Glass Violin Concerto.

[@paulbrower]

Remarkable work in showing at most one work by one composer so we don't end up full of Shostakovich string quartets!

[@murraylow4523]

So interesting. And you’re right, we can all come up with so many more! It’s really a good sign about the ongoing vitality of music. There’s just so much to choose from post 1960. My own accretions might be a bit more avant garde, but hey some people like this others don’t and that’s ok! Lutoslawski, oh yes (Symphony 3, yes, as others have said). Much of Dutilleux is post 1960, maybe the cello concerto? Berio Sinfonia, yes. Ligeti, well, you talked about the études lately but maybe the horn trio or violin concerto? Stravinsky’s requiem canticles are fair game here, and I’m surprised not to see mentions in the comments re Messiaen, who wrote a lot after 1960. From the canyons to the stars maybe, as a representative example. Boulez, yes, sur Incises from the 1990s, really quite approachable, especially live. Birtwistle, yes, the Mask of Orpheus perhaps. That’ll do, but your comments on the bespoke ensembles, plus the fact that you can only generally hear these things in particular places, or on the radio etc in particular places, raises questions of costs to this ever more complex and complexly orchestrated stuff. So no, they don’t enter the “standard repertoire” in the same way as things did in the past maybe, but we can certainly listen to them. But post 1960 music does get quite a lot of live play here in London and I assume in other places.

[@millercgr]

I would add Ewazen’s Oboe Concerto “Down a River of Time”. What a beautiful and elegant work. The piece is so expressive and lovely. He brings an optimism to the form that is not often heard in contemporary concertos.

[@1-JBL]

It's a great list. I could make a different list, but this one certainly stands. I sure wonder why someone would think you've given modern music short shrift; I've seen videos DEDICATED to pieces by Gerhard, Penderecki, even Yoshimatsu. And many others.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Because they have no idea what I've actually done. You know, talk first, do your homework later.

[@pauldavidartistclub6723]

It’s hard to believe that anyone has complained of you failing to give coverage to “new” music from the post-war era, or last five to seven decades. Without even delving back into all your videos for an even fuller picture, you’ve championed “tough” symphonies (many of which are modern), plus Schnittke, Saygun, Ligeti, Holmboe, Lindberg, I think Salonen, Glass and the Minimalists, Messiaen, Lieberson, Zimmermann, Lutoslawski, and goodness knows how many others! You even did a whole video in defense of living composers! Not to mention recent film composers such as John Williams, John Barry, and Bernard Hermann. And let’s face it, a great many of the Baroque composers you’ve mentioned in the padt two years were as good as unknown fifty years ago so THEIR rediscovery should almost count as being “new music”. You just can’t please some people!

[@whistlerfred6579]

Another interesting list! My only grouse is with the Adams' Harmoniewhatever, which I find a bit frustrating in that it seems to be reaching for that big tune (particularly in the Finale) and it never quite gets there. I would have included his Shaker Loops, an astonishing tour-de-force of exciting tremolos and ecstatic stillness. I also might have chosen Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians" or George Crumb's "Echoes of Time and the River" but it's hard to argue with both your choices for two of my personal favorites among contemporary composers.

[@iankemp1131]

Or for Adams, maybe Harmonium rather than Harmonielehre? A very striking piece.

[@minddriver6358]

If you ike Shaker Loops you must listen to Jon Anderson's version on his album "Change we must", where he'd added his own vocals to it.

[@markwoods1951]

I loved this list and the only reason I had heard of many of these works was because I've probably seen about 90% of your videos. This video and your videos on the 1953 guide got me to thinking that those great conductors of the past really were doing a lot of, at the time, not well known works by not well known composers and many of them quite recent. Anyway, I'd love to see a series of Modern Conductors in Their Prime, with a discussion of what they have done so far and some suggestions of modern works they could or should do now. For example, the best thing I've seen Yannick Nézet-Séguin do in Philadelphia was Florence Price's symphonies. I really couldn't care less about his Mahler and Stravinsky and other works Ormandy and Muti have done no matter how well or not so well he does them. Why doesn't he do something like the Roger Sessions symphonies? I'd find that interesting to say the least.

[@Otorres1]

After around two hours of pondering.... Dominick Argento: Casa Guidi (1983) John Adams: Chairman Dances (1985) Philip Glass: Violin Concerto No.1 (1987) Poul Ruders: Symphony No.1 (1989) Luciano Berio: Rendering (1989/90) Lowell Liebermann: Flute Concerto (1992) Michael Torke: Javelin (1994) Takashi Yoshimatsu: Ode to Birds & Rainbows (1994) Marjan Mozetich: Affairs of the Heart, for Violin & Strings (1997) Unsuk Chin: Violin Concerto (2001)

[@charlescoleman5509]

So, will there be a “10 great operas since 1960” list at some point? Because I have a few opinions on that one.

[@tterrace]

So many commenters seem to have hallucinated the words “The only…” or “The best… “ in the video title. Posted by Paul Penna.

[@fzanon]

Even though I agree with all recommendations, which tend to be inclined towards "modern classics", I feel two monumental absences: Berio's Sinfonia and Ligeti's Violin Concerto. Two rare cases where academia and the real world of orchestral programs converge. A personal favorite is Nicholas Maw's Odissey, not a cutting-edge piece but a piece to stand side-by-side with the classics.

[@michaelzimmerman7166]

What about the Gorecki 3rd Symphony? Such a moving, riveting yet tender and ultimately listenable masterpiece. I hope its wild popularity was not the ground for excluding it.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I'll say it again. This is not a "best of" or "greatest" list by any means. It's just a list of ten by way of example, as a contrast to Taubman's lists that necessarily stop at 1953. Whether something is or is not on the list is not the point at all.

[@stephenwu1524]

@@DavesClassicalGuide completely disregarding the video, I’m curious to hear your thoughts on Gorecki’s 3rd. It’s one of my favorite works and I don’t believe you’ve talked about it too much before

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@stephenwu1524 I think it's a great work.

[@jkryanspark]

I purchased Gorecki's 3rd after hearing it played as the soundtrack to the plane crash scene in the movie Fearless.

[@cyberprimate]

What are your 10 favourite 21st century works?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I haven't thought about it. To be honest, I don't really pay much attention to dates. This was an exception to make a point.

[@davidbo8400]

Some works by "old masters' such as Philip Glass' 11th Symphony feature among my tiny group of 21st century favourites, but for me he's mostly a 20th century composer. That symphony adds an interesting Brucknerian flavour to his minimalist strain(s), and makes it clear the composer had a lot of fun composing it. Thus, in some way, so very early 21st century (Bruckner as a joyful sound). However, as regards purely 21st century composers, please check out the list on Wikipedia. There aren't many familiar names in there, and the slightly-known ones are mostly over 50 and much older. You draw your own conclusions. There's likely some great composers and some great works buried in there somewhere, but it's hard to tell, as no consistently reliable, nor comprehensive criticism is available, and I don't, as most people, have the time or energy to attempt sorting this out, and identify some genuinely great music from the mountain pile of mostly unheard and unspolen of works. Maybe you do and will release a list of favourites 7 or 8 years from now...? It's a good question, though.

[@cyberprimate]

@@davidbo8400 The same problem of invisibility of great recent works happens in other musical genres. Good popular music for instance exists but it's small and in the margins and therefore not that popular. I revere Karol Beffa as a composer for instance but who knows him outside France?

[@dirkbecker6827]

HI Dave, I would kindly ask you to add a BEST RECORDINGS EVER for Harmonielehre. Doesn't it sound like a great idea? I would be really interested since I consider it as a masterpiece of the late 20th century! I wonder whether Rattle can speed up to other conductors in your opinion!? ( I will see the composer himself conducting his masterpiece in Munich next year...) - Thank you and best regards, dirk

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'd like to do something by Adams, so I'll give it some thought.

[@Misha.K23040]

Hey Dave, a bit of a different suggestion, could you compile a list of best classical music books? I’m sure most of the literature and musicology is dreary, but there must be some biographies or interesting books you would recommend even to the generic listener

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Anything by me!

[@steveschwartz8944]

Books I've liked. Anything by Howard Pollack. George Bernard Shaw's and Schumann's music criticism. A Virgil Thomson Reader. Copland on Music. Vaughan Williams's National Music and Other Essays. Michael Kennedy's studies of Vaughan Williams, R. Strauss, and Elgar. Slonimsky's Lexicon of Musical Invective. Steven Smith's A Fire at Heart's Center (on Bernard Herrman). John Bird's bio of Percy Grainger (one weird dude).

[@steveschwartz8944]

I'll add Beecham's memoir, A Mingled Chime.

[@joshuadavis2416]

What's your opinion of Robert Simpson's symphonies?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Some good, some very dry and formulaic.

[@rolandmeyer3729]

Simpson's Ninth is a masterpiece.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@rolandmeyer3729 No, it's a bore.

[@stuartnorman8713]

@@DavesClassicalGuide I love Simpson's 3rd, which I call the "Beat you to death symphony"

[@josbaeck2503]

@@DavesClassicalGuide the symphonies are " difficult listening", but i like the 9th string quartet

[@jeffwoodruff1698]

Very interesting no Boulez. I'm not making a case for him. I've tried to "get into it" but I find his music mostly impenetrable and the opposite of rewarding, complexity for its own sake, but he's taken oh so seriously by so many. I just find it interesting that neither you nor any of the comments so far deem him worthy of the list...

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I'll say it again. This is not a "best of" or "greatest" list by any means. It's just a list of ten by way of example, as a contrast to Taubman's lists that necessarily stop at 1953. Whether something is or is not on the list is not the point at all.

[@walterprossnitz3471]

​@@DavesClassicalGuide Would it be fair to say that the works of Boulez (like some Stravinsky!) have not aged very well?

[@Warp75]

Dave your channel is costing me a lot of money on music!!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Sorry, sort of...

[@dionbaillargeon4899]

I just discovered Rzewski's variations thanks to this list and I've been listening to them non stop for two days. Thank you very much! I also shared it on social media and learned that a friend of mine played the Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues (another masterwork, BTW) for Rzewski himself some years ago. I only have an issue with this work: I find the original theme so overwhelmingly moving that it somewhat overshadows Rzewski's work for me, musically, as I'm always wishing for the theme to return. Of course, this is a completely subjective thing, but I wonder whether someone else feels the same way. It probably is only an issue with history bluffs like myself that feel strongly against injustice.

[@johnmarchington3146]

I'm glad you included Adams' Harmonielehre. A marvellous work (with some silly titles)

[@py8554]

Philip Glass not in the list, but that’s fine - that just means I got the chance to learn one more modern masterpiece that I don’t yet know.

[@erikdaumann8589]

Number 11 could be Britten's War Requiem 🙂

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

Miss your holding labels so I can learn how to spell names of composers I know nothing but wish to look up, make acquaintance.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

How about looking at the list of works in the video description?

[@TCizauskas]

"Crumbetized"!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Sorry, it should have been "Crumbellated."

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Crumbled.

[@ppfuchs]

Kind of amazed you didn't put the Elliot Carter Piano Concerto (1964) in there. Definitely that composer's greatest work, and the only one I really, really like. And it has had very great performances too on disc, especially by Ursula Oppens.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I'd be amazed if I had put it there. I think it's one of his weakest pieces; it holds no place in the repertoire, and gets very little attention on disc (and it's been around for a long enough time to get much more). The fact that you like it isn't really relevant. I think it's great that it speaks to you, but that isn't the point.

[@ppfuchs]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Not getting your logic here, because the same can be said by most of pieces on your list.....a point you yourself made about them. This seems a bit like the Mad Hatter with half a cup of tea.

[@marknewkirk4322]

@@ppfuchs I personally would have put Carter's Concerto for Orchestra on such a list, but that's just me. So that's no knock on Dave's list. Carter wrote only three works in the 1960s, the Double Concerto, the Piano Concerto, and the Concerto for Orchestra. The Piano Concerto strikes me as far less attractive sonically and less exciting than the other two works.

[@Mezzotenor]

No Britten War Requiem?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Why does there have to be? If you think it belongs there, state your case.

[@iankemp1131]

I honestly have to say I don't find it adds much if anything to the original poetry, and like a lot of Britten it appears little in the repertoire now. In an entirely different style, there is a modern war requiem which is now far more popular - Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man.

[@lmanna]

No soundtracks qualifies as classical masterpiece ? Just wondering.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

That's not the point of this discussion. Have a look at the film score playlist and you'll have your answer.

[@paulbrower]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Example: John Williams' music is often derivative in the extreme.

[@lmanna]

@@paulbrower John Williams is not the only composer of film music.

[@herbchilds1512]

Second the write-in votes for Britten, Gorecki, Lutoslawski.

[@francoisjoubert6867]

Wot?!?! Dere is no Boulez? Wot is wrong wif you pipil?

[@irekmichal2005]

🤣🤣🤣

[@dennischiapello3879]

I'm afraid to mention it, as Dave REALLY dislikes Boulez as a composer. I myself have never been able to enjoy Boulez, EXCEPT for Le Marteau sans Maître. I think it's great fun--certainly the 3rd part is. And the bongos, great God, the bongos!

[@irekmichal2005]

@Dennis Chiapello hehe. I like Bouleze. Both as a conductor and composer. But it definitely is nicer to study his scores than to listen to them😁

[@francoisjoubert6867]

@@dennischiapello3879 - wot? Ze honorable Dawiied Hurwitz does not approof of ze magnificence of Boulez! Merde! Zat is news to me. Mabe we shut send Hurwitz for sam re-edukashun, no?

[@dennischiapello3879]

@@francoisjoubert6867 I'm nominating you for the Frenchiest Frenchman Award. What's that? You already hold the Légion d'Honneur for that in France?!