The Last Post Game!!!!

[Swatopluk]

Hindemith tried to find a modus vivendi and left when he realized that he would have to betray his art at the minimum.
I am split as far as Orff is concerned.  E.g. he took the offer to compose a new Midsummer Night's Dream stage music a bit too eagerly and his justification post facto was a wee bit fishy. I actually believe him that he was interested in it artistically but he knew very well for what purpose he was asked to compose it (his denial there is not credible). Had he done it in 1930 or 1950 there would have been no problem. Then it would have been just like the 3rd Barber of Seville or the 43rd Armida, i.e. a new take to account for a chanched musical taste.

Last _{at least he had talent unlike many wannabe nazi Mozarts} Post

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

According to the wiki some claim he had written [some of] the music between 1917 and 1927. Frankly it seems a bit messed up to be in that position, even Hindemith didn't want to go but had to because of his wife.

Last _{not everybody is Stravinsky, Prokofiev tried to leave but he was too homesick, and Shostakovich didn't had much of an option} Post

[Swatopluk]

Shostakovich (in my opinion) managed to stay true to art even in the propaganda pieces* he had to produce by order of Stalin. He bowed in the house of Rimmon because that was necessary for survival but did not otherwise sell his soul. Prokofiev (from what I read) seems to have a few skeletons in the closet as a result of his pact with the Georgian devil (which still did not save his family from persecution).

*given the abominable taste of culture functionaries and the boss himself it is surprising that those pieces have some actual musical value (take for example The Song of the Forests, a cantata written to praise Stalin's reforestation program).

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[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

One of the marks of a true genius is the ability to write masterpieces even within a very constrained style (which is the reason we remember Mozart and Haydn). While Prokofiev has always been compared to Mozart due to his early start and his Classical Symphony, Shostakovich is the man true to the conceptual respect of the strict rules and shining through them.

Last _{I possibly listen more to 'Shosty' than any other composer} Post

[Swatopluk]

They all came from the Rimsky school (Shostakovich in second generation, Prokofiev as one of the last of the first generation).
And what made Rimsky different from e.g. Wagner was that he did not create imitators but independent minds that were trained in all the rules but free to apply them within their own style. It shows. The graduates from that school produced music that could be as dissonant as that of their Western colleagues but the backbone of the rules is always there and audible (which I would often deny in the case of the latter).

My personal taste is more the moderate modern composers than the iconoclasts. I like some of Prokofiev's and Shostakovich's music and dislike other stuff they wrote (it's a matter of taste not quality). I like Rimsky far more than Tschaikovsky. I like the Khovanshchina in the Shostakovich orchestration but with the Stravinsky finale. I like a lot of rather obscure composers from the Slavic lands (ever heard of Aaron Avshalomov?).
Not to forget Orthodox chant (with the old Bulgarian style as favorite).

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[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

what made Rimsky different from e.g. Wagner was that he did not create imitators

What do you have against Bruckner?

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[Swatopluk]

The dwarf with the big compensatory music? 
Humperdinck (not the brided prince or that awful British singer) would be a far closer fit (his is probably the most extreme gen-splice in musical history). And he is often the first operatic composer kids get confronted with. Over here Hänsel und Gretel is on the program every Xmas in ALMOST* every opera house and ignorant parents carry their preschool kids there expecting some light entertainment and then get steamrolled by a full Wagnerian score. To be clear, I like that opera but imo it is unsuitable for small children. If I had kids, the first opera I would treat them with would be Zar und Zimmermann (Tsar and Carpenter). It's funny and easy to understand (both voices and content).

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*one Berlin opera house broke that tradition for several years and had The Fairy-Tale of Tsar Saltan by Rimsky instead (sung in German).

[Griffin NoName]

Can't stand any of their music. It doesn't sound like music to me. Can't stand Tavener either. As for Goehr, I better keep quiet.

Last _{what's wrong with a bit of a sing-song?} Post

[Swatopluk]

You want a song?
Here, right from the movie.
[youtube=425,350]3qdbRoPWoU8[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qdbRoPWoU8

Last _{there are recordings on youtube with better sound quality but without the scenic context} Post

[Griffin NoName]

Give me Mozart, Bizet, or Verdi - plus a few others.

Last _{Reminds me of Inspector Montalbano} Post

[Swatopluk]

Do you want to force me to dig up some pretty crappy stuff those guys produced (some of Mozart's songs are definietly NSFW)?

Why not go with something both new and traditional?
[youtube=425,350]g2LkGR1Aa4g[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2LkGR1Aa4g

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[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

For children I'm a fan of Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortileges.

Last _{unless you want to show them Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle} Post

[Swatopluk]

If you ask me, the Bartok opera would bore them to death before the doors get even opened.

Last _{while we are at it, why not The Rake's Progress?}  Post

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

But BB's Castle is under an hour.

Last _{Stravinsky's is a bit* longer affair} Post

*standard 3 acts

[Swatopluk]

I know but youngsters get easily bored.

Last _{one reason why long overtures got out of fashion} Post