As for me, I am a huge Tchaikovsky fan. His work on the Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake is absolutely mind blowing to me. I also like Federico Moreno-Torroba, a 20th century composer for guitar as well as Isaac Albeniz who composed many pieces for piano that were later transcribed for guitar.
I think that who my favorite composers are and who I draw influence from are not always the same for me. My favorite is Mahler, hands down. However, he does not energize me to write churning late-romantic music, I just love to hear it. Stronger influences that aren't my favorites include Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Berio, Cage, Partch, Zappa, and others.
ReplyDeleteMy second favorite composer is Ives, (who does influence me tremendously) because he is totally awesome.
My number one favorite composer and direct influence is John Adams. His music has alway landed favorably in my ear, and I love digging into a score and stealing from that man!
ReplyDeleteNumber two has to be John Corigliano. He is such a master of all musical elements. My tentative educational goal is to study under him for my masters degree, but we will see about that!
Others I love to listen to/steal from are: Avro Part, David Lang, John Cage, Phillip Glass, Krzysztof Penderecki, George Crumb, Witold Lutosławski, Dan Welcher, Stravinsky, Britten, Copland, Morton Feldman, Nico Muhley, Hans Otte, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Christopher Tignor, Christopher Rouse, Michael Gordon, Marc Mellits, Gavin Bryars, Bill Bolcom, Paul Lansky, and many others.
Good question! I think Michael brings up a good point; sometimes the music we love doesn't have a direct or clear bearing on the music we write. Beethoven is, for me, the king. But I'm not sure that his work influences my work per se, at least in a technical sense.
ReplyDeleteMy musical language has been probably most shaped by Stravinsky, Bartok, and Copland at the core, with a heap of more modern influences like Louis Andriessen, Stephen Hartke, Evan Chambers, Gyorgy Ligeti, and John Corigliano (all music that I love for sure).