New Music.

Tagalie,

I am not sure I would agree with you regarding Ligeti and 'fashion'. While Kubrick's use of his music in 2002 was a high point in his fame outside of the contemporary scene he certainly has never been hard to find in the concert hall. Works such as the solo cello sonata and the Horn Trio appear pretty regularly and I don't think his reputation as at any point taken a dip. If my memory serves tere have been at least two celebrations of his work in the last ten years in the UK and even 'Le Grande Macabre' got an outing at ENO. Personally I think he is one of the outstanding composers of the last fifty years - playful, bold and imaginative. His music also holds up incredibly well on disc - much better say that Stockhausen, who requires a 'live' concert really to grab the attention and convey the depth of a work such as Gruppen. Apart from Stockhausen's piano pieces I am trying to think of any piano work as significant as Ligeti's series of Etudes for Piano - Boulez's piano sonatas have never struck me as half as interesting as his orchestral pieces.

However, I am willing to be proven wrong! What other piano pieces of the last 40 years match Ligeti?

Oh... I completely forgot Messiaen. That says something both about my memory and maybe that the works have not caught my attention yet.

The great thing about Gloria Coates' music is that on one level she has no idea how good she is. There's no desperate attempt to be original, or contrive something weighty to say. Her music just is. 

Similiarly check out: http://jessicapavone.com/

Naupilus, I'm sure you're right. Ligeti's not been front and centre where I live but that doesn't mean much. You boys who are lucky enough (musically-speaking at least) to live in one of the great music hotbeds are better judges of what's happening. Which is why recorded music is so vital for the rest of us.

JAH, Simpson has indeed been discussed, quite frequently, on this thread. A poster I much miss, dubrob, used to run a composer of the week thread and Simpson was one subject. If you scroll back about a year you may find it.

Just to add to your comments on Mathias, Chris: he's very much a tonal, conservative composer, very tuneful and rhythmic. But a distinctive voice nevertheless. The harp concerto is a gem. It first appeared on a superbly-recorded Decca disc (vinyl), Osian Ellis the soloist, with the wonderfully-catchy and vital Dance Overture and a couple of other works. Probably transferred to cd at some point and hopefully Decca didn't dry-out the sound in the process.

Hoddinott is more 'modern', rather atonal but manages to engage the ear. Slightly mystical music with big gestures. My favourite disc of his works, again vinyl, was an old Decca (like the Mathias, featuring the LSO conducted by Atherton) containing his Symphony 3, op.76 The Sun the Great Luminary of the Universe (see what I mean about grand gestures?), and Sinfonietta #3. It also featured one of my favourite record covers, back when covers meant something.

Terterian's 7th and 8th symphonies are available at Amazon UK, but at a price of £26.72.

Now, I bought the set of Simpson symphonies (7 cds) quite recently for under 40 pounds.  I thought this was excellent value.

I no longer live in the UK. Is this kind of disparity in pricing normal?

I would love to try the Terterian, but not at that price. It can remain on my 'to do' list.

The disc mentioned above (3rd and 4th symphonies) is £16.95. Still expensive, in my opinion.

Ah, but dreams one day, can be reality the next, can't they, NAXOS?

I dream of recordings of Popov, Tischenko, Shchedrin, and other unjustly neglected Russians.