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Igor Stravinski composing

Great classical works:

J.S. Bach's very well known Partita for Violin performed by the very well known Hilary Hahn

One of Tchaikovsky's most famous works - Fantasy Overture from "Romeo and Juliet"

beautiful adagios:

My personal favorite Beethoven string quartet. This one was written in his late period when he was completely deaf, which adds to the the aching quality of its beauty.

Often considered one of the saddest of classical works, Barber's Adagio for Strings was originally written for string quartet and later orchestrated for a full string orchestra.

Mahler's Adagietto from the 5th Symphony is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. Leonard Bernstein helped to revive the work of the late German master in the later part of the 20th Century.

Charles Ive's 4th Symphony is a monumental work, rarely performed because of its complexity. Polytonal, Polyphonic, Pholyrhythmic and uniquely American. The Fugue is an expansion of an early work for String Quartet and invokes the beauty of the American Landscape.

contemporary orchestra works:

Arvo Part is an Estonian composer who inspires many musicians from many different genres. Fratres is a wonderful and energetic piece for string orchestra with violin soloists.

Glass is one of the most famous contemporary composers because of his work in films such as "Koyaanisqatsi" (Life out of Balance), and "Kundun". He employs minimalist techniques (process involving repetition and rhythmic development) developed by Steve Reich and other contemporary composers of his time.

Ligeti was a 20th century composer who employed micro-tonal techniques, using notes in between our tempered chromatic scale of half-steps.

Polish composer Lutoslakwski wrote "Funeral Music" as a tribute to composer Bela Bartok. It is a serial piece, meaning it employs all 12 tones of the chromatic scale before repeating any pitch in a tone row. Lutoslakski generated much his music this way, but wasn't a strict serialist.

Other music:

Peter Gabriel was the lead singer of 70's prog rock super group Genesis, but his true genius began during his solo career. The song is from an album of cover tunes called "Scratch My Back". Gabriel worked with a number of arrangers to orchestrate cover songs he liked and performed singing them with the orchestra.

Bjork is a true visionary and often blends strings with her art songs.

Amazing string quartet version of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir from Japanese quartet YAMATO! You've got to check this out!!!

Great music in film:

Kubrick was famous for using great classical music as his score for film and spanned Baroque to Contemporary classical in most of his films. 2001 features works ranging from Romantic composer Strauss to 20th century microtonalist Ligeti.

Have you ever heard of Star Wars?

......Swim faster.

Getting to know contemporary classical composers:

Get To Know One Of The Most-Performed Living ComposersTo mark the 80th birthday of the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (Bjork and Michael Stipe are among his fans), preview an upcoming documentary and explore a few facts and myths about this singular artist.

Part is one of the great contemporary composers of our time... give him a listen.

The Story Of Philip GlassPhilip Glass is one of the great creative originals of the modern age. He emerged in the 1960s at a time when contemporary classical music, spearheaded by those infamous “bad boys” Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez, had reached unparalleled levels of intellectual inscrutability.

A guide to John Adams's musicHis operas boldly tackle politics, terrorism and terror itself. One of our most important contemporary voices, his music is both more radical and more conservative than his minimalist forebears. Tom Service on John Adams

Steve Reich - Albums, Songs, and NewsSteve Reich Articles and Media

The music of Charles IvesCivil war marches, hymns, parlour songs - Charles Ives transformed his country's everyday sounds into some of the most innovative orchestral music ever written

Ives is one of my favorite composers, and one of the first American composers to achieve world-wide acclaim. Ives helped to define what American music sounds like in the classical world.

Kronos QuartetThe Kronos Quartet is known for its unique artistic vision and dedication to experimentation. Since its inception in 1973, Kronos has assembled a body of work unparalleled in its range and scope of expression.

Ryuichi Sakamoto's score for the Revenant is one of my favorite movie scores of all time... listen for how he uses space in the strings. . .

Important dates in 2025-2026: