Why are all the great composers dead?

[Zoot Allures]

I wonder why the Mozart era produced such great music. So few people and of those a very tiny percentage musically educated yet the greatest composers ever. WHY? Was the universe aligned to allow the spirit of music into people ? I know this sounds new age wacky but what is the other explanation?

Perhaps they were on psychedelics as it was not illegal then but I know of no music historian who has come up with such a hypothesis based on any evidence.

 

[oil&gas]

Erich Wolfgang Korngold's genius came very close to
match that of Mozart. At his prime Korngold's music
was daring and innovative. And yet when the great
Austrian composer returned to his home country after
WWII he was already a dinosaur. There is good reason
why serious concert music came to be called classical music.
That world had changed so radically after the war years
that all the great composers of its time were no longer
interested in creating new music in the classical tradition.
Igor Stravinsky was probably the very last composer
universally recognized as the greatest composer of his time.

 

[Insidious Von]

The quality of German recordings was vastly superior to that being produced in the USA. Although Arturo Toscanini and George Gershwin were making more money than Wilhelm Furtwangler and Richard Strauss.

After WW II music became more accessible and also more disposable. With the advent of rock, traditional music (Classical) almost became abandoned. It also hurt that Jean Sibelius stopped composing in 1927 but it wasn't all bad. Glenn Gould used the new LP to revived the legacy of Bach, who was considered passe before him. Styles change and music has in general became broader. It doesn't help that music education has been deleted from school curriculum, it's essential to the development of the agile problem solving mind.

Lovely Scots lass is the standard for Korngold.

 

[Butler1000]

I wonder why the Mozart era produced such great music. So few people and of those a very tiny percentage musically educated yet the greatest composers ever. WHY? Was the universe aligned to allow the spirit of music into people ? I know this sounds new age wacky but what is the other explanation?

Perhaps they were on psychedelics as it was not illegal then but I know of no music historian who has come up with such a hypothesis based on any evidence.

I would in fact put composers like John Williams and Danny Elfman in their ranks.

They exist, but remember classical was also Pop music of the time, with patrons paying. No doubt there were many average and mediocre composers as well as patrons searched for good ones to show off.

Persons with musical talent will write what sells, in any era.

 

[TeeJay]

Modern Composers

Steve Reich
John Adams
James Dillon
Arvo Part
Thomas Ades
Mark-Anthony Turnage
George Crumb
György Ligeti
John Tavener
John Cage

List goes on and on.... (John Williams was mentioned by another poster and I agree he is great, Elfman not so sure about lasting but we shall see)

In many ways I will argue the quality of music has not decreased at all, the main diff is that disposable pop / rap music and its like has been dominant in popular culture for a while (name 1 station that plays classical music without looking; majority of terbites would not even know where to find it)

 

[oil&gas]

The quality of German recordings was vastly superior to that being produced in the USA. Although Arturo Toscanini and George Gershwin were making more money than Wilhelm Furtwangler and Richard Strauss.

I am interested to know which classical composers in
the 2nd half of the 20th century managed to have lived
an affluent lifestyle on royalties of their
composition. I was surprised when I read that the
symphonic works of Malcolm Arnold (1921--2006) were
actually profitable. My guess is for lesser-known composers
of concert music teaching would be their main source of
income.

 

[Knuckle Ball]

We have just as many great composers now as there were in Mozart’s time. In fact, there are probably more. They compose music in different styles and genres than Mozart’s but are no less talented.

 

[Insidious Von]

Nota Rota wrote extensively for symphonic and chamber music. It has been taken up but he's primarily known for his film scores. That's how he got rich.

 

[derrick76]

Ennio Morricone.

Nuff said.

 

[derrick76]

Modern Composers

Steve Reich
John Adams
James Dillon
Arvo Part
Thomas Ades
Mark-Anthony Turnage
George Crumb
György Ligeti
John Tavener
John Cage

List goes on and on.... (John Williams was mentioned by another poster and I agree he is great, Elfman not so sure about lasting but we shall see)

In many ways I will argue the quality of music has not decreased at all, the main diff is that disposable pop / rap music and its like has been dominant in popular culture for a while (name 1 station that plays classical music without looking; majority of terbites would not even know where to find it)

You forgot disposable rock, unless that is filed under pop.

 

[gcostanza]

They're busy decomposing.

 

[oil&gas]

Musical talents come in different expression.
John Lennon for one was an exceptionally talented
song writer. But I doubt Lennon was able to arrange
the songs of Beatles like George Martin. Paul
McCartney would not be able to compose his
Oratorio without the collaboration of Carl Davis.
This is not to suggest that Lennon and McCartney
were not as talented as their collaborators. My
point is talents of musicians of different genres
are not always comparable.

 

[Insidious Von]

Some pieces take on a life of their own, Samuel Barber never wrote for films. This is the original format.

Leonard Bernstein made a request...and you don't turn down the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic.

 

[jerimander]

No one can compose anything like this Renaissance masterpiece by Palestrina today.

 

[fall]

I wonder why the Mozart era produced such great music. So few people and of those a very tiny percentage musically educated yet the greatest composers ever. WHY? Was the universe aligned to allow the spirit of music into people ? I know this sounds new age wacky but what is the other explanation?

Perhaps they were on psychedelics as it was not illegal then but I know of no music historian who has come up with such a hypothesis based on any evidence.

Because the proportion of chamber music in entertainment industry greatly decreased over the last 100 years. 150 years ago theatres were the main entertainment outlet, then cinema took the role, now it is TV serials.

 

[Smallcock]

I would in fact put composers like John Williams and Danny Elfman in their ranks.

They exist, but remember classical was also Pop music of the time, with patrons paying. No doubt there were many average and mediocre composers as well as patrons searched for good ones to show off.

Persons with musical talent will write what sells, in any era.

John Williams is masterful and so many people know his music from classic films but may not know his name.

Classical was pop music of its time but it literally meant popular music - music that the masses enjoyed. Today pop music is created by a handful of producers using well-worn formulas that also buy rankings on music charts and radio play. It's shoved down people's throats but not necessarily stuff people would readily choose to listen to on their own.

 

[oil&gas]

Ennio Morricone.

Nuff said.

As a lifetime fan of Morricone I actually never thought
the maestro's works were indeed greater than those of
his peers from Italy to a degree big enough to mark him
out as a great composer. Morricone could write music
with a Mozartian swiftness which served him well.
It is interesting to note that Sergio Leone
was unimpressed by Morricone's
pre-dollar Spaghetti Western film scores.
Leone's first choice of composer for 'A fistful of dollars'
was in fact Francesco Lavagnino.

 

[TheDr]

I could be wrong.. I believe it was Felix Mendelssohn who was walking on the beach with a friend. The friend said "All the good music has already been written". Mendelssohn then gestured at the sea and said "Oh, look. Here comes the last wave"

 

[kherg007]

These bloody kids today with that wa wa wa crap blasting on the hi-fi...get off my lawn!

 

[jerimander]

Rap music will probably destroy whatever remnants of musical talent are left.