Time to Weigh in....

Posted at 4:34 AM on November 14, 2009 by Ward Jacobson (10 Comments)
Filed under: In the media, The blog

My colleague Julie Amacher shared this entry from Friday's Arts Journal website.

The question? Which 10 living composers will still be played in 50 years' time? The Arts Journal site paired it down to five locks: Birtwistle, Boulez, Rautavaara, Reich and Sondheim. Then came the probables, followed by the possibles.

So what do you think? We'd love to see YOUR top 10.

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Comments (10)

in no particular order:
John Williams
John Adams
Boulez
Steve Reich
Mark O'Connor
Soundheim
Theofanidis
Eric Whitacre
some wind band composer

yeah, they're all mostly in the american scene, but i dont really keep up with anything else.

Posted by xerox01 | November 14, 2009 1:45 PM

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How about Samuel Barber? I'll bet his "Adagio for Strings" will be part of our cultural fabric for many generations to come!

Posted by alison young | November 15, 2009 7:44 AM

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Aaron Kernis
Kalevi Aho
Einojuhani Rautavaara
Philip Glass
John Adams
Joan Tower
Sally Beamish
Steven Stucky
James MacMillan
Chen Yi

Posted by Brian Newhouse | November 15, 2009 8:52 AM

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That'll teach me to try and multi-task while I'm on-air! The list is LIVING composers...so just ignore my last comment...

I know Stephen Paulus is still with us - and I think his "Pilgrim's Hymn" will still be sung in 50 years.

Posted by alison young | November 15, 2009 9:54 AM

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apparently J. Williams has a symphony, but it's not published. I hope it does sooner or later so we can take a real look at him outside of the movie spectrum.

Posted by xerox01 | November 15, 2009 10:58 AM

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Dominick Argento and Paul McCartney should be on this list.

Posted by Kipling Thacker | November 15, 2009 11:04 AM

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How about John Corigliano?

Posted by dvorak204 | November 15, 2009 11:33 AM

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Arvo Part belongs on the list.

Posted by Corey Sevett | November 24, 2009 3:14 PM

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Stephen Paulus belongs on the list because of his versatility.

Posted by Natalie Miller | November 24, 2009 4:01 PM

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France always seems to have organ composers who rise to the top. I will offer the name of Naji Hakim as one whose music for that instrument will bear the test of time.

Posted by Norma Stevlingson | November 25, 2009 2:32 PM

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