a dose of music: a classical injection - part 10

If you happen to have read my post in April on new music, you'll know how I feel about it. Regardless of whether you read it, I thought I'd suggest a few new pieces that I actually do like. Personally, John Adams' is one of my favorite contemporary composers. He's a minimalistic composer, which roughly means the composer uses a chord, rhythmic idea, phrase, or other item in a repetitive fashion, without altering it (much), for a long period of time before changing to something else. It can be a very powerful technique. A few pieces of his that you might want to check out are "A Short Ride in a Fast Machine," "Grand Pianola Music," and "Harmonium." Jennifer Higdon is another living composer who I enjoy. She isn't a minimalist composer, and I don't know how she would classify herself, but I view her music as a sort of neo-romantic style. Some pieces of hers that I like are "Concerto for Orchestra" and "Blue Cathedral." Also try checking out Christopher Theofanidis' "Rainbow Body." Another really cool piece that I just discovered is Wynton Marsalis' "All Rise" which is for (jazz) orchestra and chorus. This is only a small taste of the new stuff thats out there, and you may not even find these selections appealing to you, but thankfully I feel there are a lot of choices in styles of new music to choose from these days, and more than likely you'll find at least something you'll like.