Living Symphonists

[Dundonnell]

It is a bit dispiriting to think that of the living composers of symphonies which have any great appeal to me personally so many are now approaching the end of their compositional career.

I can think of:

Henri Dutilleux:                    95
Arthur Butterworth:             88
Hans-Werner Henze:           85
Einjouhani Rautavaara:       83
Rodion Shchedrin:                79
Krzystof Penderecki:            78
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies:     77
Aulis Sallinen:                       76
Arvo Part:                             76
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett: 75
Valentin Silvestrov:               74
John Corigliano:                    73
John Harbison:                      73
John McCabe:                        72
David Matthews:                   68
Ragnar Soderlind:                 66
Petris Vasks:                         65
Christopher Rouse:               62
Kalevi Aho:                            62
Halvor Haug:                         59
and the mere youngsters Carl Vine: 57 and James MacMillan: 52

I honestly cannot think of any others who really qualify as composers of symphonies that have made much impression on me or whose symphonies have any real basis in any form of tonality, traditional structure, symphonic coherence, whatever. Per Norgard or Poul Ruders don't "do it" for me, I am afraid.
Even some on my list are pretty heavy going for my tastes(like Henze) or have not written a symphony for a long time now(like Dutilleux or Bennett).

There is young Matthew Taylor in Britain, two of whose symphonies I am about to listen to, but I don't know of many others out there who might attract me back to their music

(...and, Yes, I do like lists )

[Alan Howe]

As you say, although Dutilleux qualifies in a technical sense, he actually hasn't written a symphony for over fifty years. Bennett hasn't written one for nearly a quarter of a century, Rautavaara's 8th came twelve years ago, Henze's 10th was completed in 2000, as was Shchedrin's 3rd. Sallinen's 8th was written 10 years ago and McCabe's 'Six-Minute' Symphony was composed in 1997, so we may have seen the end of all these composers as symphonists - unfortunately...

[Dundonnell]

You are of course perfectly correct, Alan, in the sense that I think we have virtually certainly had the last of Dutilleux, Henze and Rautavaara. Maxwell Davies and Bennett  may well have given up writing symphonies too.

Silvestrov and Harbison have both written symphonies in recent years and Aho has reached his 15th, so he has a way to go yet apparently

McCabe though is more active than you give him credit: his Symphony "Edward II"(his 5th) dates from 1998, the Symphony on a Pavane(his 6th) from 2006, and his Symphony "Labyrinth"(his 7th) from 2007.

But the cupboard is pretty bare these days and on the evidence I have now heard of Matthew Taylor's 1st and 3rd I don't really think he will do either Not much evidence of his mentor, Robert Simpson, in the music I heard this afternoon.

[eschiss1]

I will see what the symphony that arrived in my mailbox yesterday dated 2009 is like before I comment...
-Eric, who understands the periodic lament over the death of the symphony even if personally he is, after the death of Holmboe, Simpson, and Weinberg especially, more concerned over the future of the quartet

[BFerrell]

The symphony and quartet are stll alive and well in Finland, thank God. There is a current obsession among many artistic Finns with "diversity". So, all of this may end within the decade.

[Latvian]

Ah, yes, Tapiola. Homogenization through "diversity"!

[Alan Howe]

Oops, well that just shows my ignorance about McCabe's work. Many apologies!

But on the whole I think the symphony is in a bad way in 2011 - apart from David Matthews, and he's nailed his colours to the traditionalist mast...

[BFerrell]

I did not want to go on a rant about what I see happening every day in Britain and the USA. Sorry. I place most of it at the feet of serialism (destroyed any interest left in modern music among audiences since the early 50s)  and "diversity" and of course TV and Rupert Murdoch. But enough!

[Ser Amantio di Nicolao]

I fear I can't add much to the list.  Only Michael Hersch, who has written at least two symphonies, to my knowledge...and about those, the less said, the better, if you ask me... 

[Dundonnell]

Permit me to quote, at some length, I fear, from the closing page of the chapter by Robert Layton on "The Symphony in Britain"(the final chapter of the excellent book he edited in 1993 "A Companion to the Symphony"):

The future of the symphony as we know it is far from certain. After all, the epochs of Greek tragedy and Elizabethan drama can be measured in decades rather than centuries, and after evolving and flourishing for almost three centuries, there is no reason to imagine that the symphony might not follow the motet, the madrigal or the fugue into history. Moreover technological advances have altered our music life beyond recognition. The very means which make our symphonic inheritance so widely accessible also threatens its survival.............Even as late as the beginning of (the 20th century), Medieval and Renaissance music was the preserve of a handful of scholars. Now with the LP and CD explosion.....a creative mind is less certain of the tradition to which he can relate. Vaughan Williams could turn to Elgar, Parry and to folk music and the tradition of Tallis and Byrd; a modern composer is confronted with a repertoire extending back to the Middle Ages and outwards to the whole of the western world. In addition, he is more aware than any generation before him of the music of India and the Orient, which stands at the opposite pole to the kind of musical dynamic of Western symphonic music, and to some extent explains the fascination of certain kinds of minimalism.

Although this enriched repertoire may be a source of delight for listeners and music-lovers, to the creative mind it poses greater challenges than ever before. The sheer volume of musical impulses is intimidating and inhibiting. Moreover, folk music can no longer be the source of inspiration it was for the generation of Vaughan Williams, Bartok and Kodaly, for the wells have been polluted by the all-pervasive phenomenon of pop, with its impoverished(or indeed absence of) vocabulary...In addition, with the phenomenon of muzak, a generation has been fostered to regard music as background, to be disregarded, only its absence noted. This is hardly an environment in which a form as sophisticated as the symphony can be expected to flourish. Of course, composers of quality and imagination will battle against all these odds......."

Layton concluded by naming some composers who were attempting to "rise to the symphony's intellectual and spiritual challenge". He named Anthony Milner(dead), Hugh Wood(one symphony), Richard Rodney Bennett(nothing since 1987), Alexander Goehr, Oliver Knussen and (indeed) David Matthews..

First point: I have a huge regard for Robert Layton as a writer on music and an expert, in particular, on British and Scandinavian music.
Second point: I have always regarded-with the greatest of respect to lovers of Opera, Chamber Music and other forms of Music-the symphony as possibly the greatest form that music can take.
Thirdly: what Layton wrote was penned 18 years ago now and the situation is no better, in fact, in respect of the pervasion of popular music probably even worse.

There is a strong vein of pessimism pervading Layton's views as expressed above and-with a real sense of sadness- I have to admit sharing this outlook.

[Alan Howe]

I'm afraid I share Layton's analysis too...

[Mark Thomas]

I'm more 19th century focussed than some of you, but I can of course understand your dismay at what Layton is saying. That said, his point that art forms have a natural life and that the symphony's has been longer than many is a very fair and plausible one. Added to which, as in the natural world, the decline and demise of the dominant species often leaves room for something else to emerge.

[BFerrell]

I am not quite as pessimsitic.  I compare the symphony to the novel.

[Alan Howe]

I remain very pessimistic - and not only about the future of the symphony, but about the capacity of new music in general to communicate to an audience. I hope I'm wrong, but I fear I'm not.

[BFerrell]

To offer one ray of hope, Finnish symphonies (by no means complete) most from the last ten years:

Harri Ahmas  2-2002, 2003
Atso Almila 2- 2003, 2008
Kimmo Hakola 1- 2009
Eero Hameenniemi 4 total ( last one2009)
Lasse Jalava 4
Jouni Kaipainen 4
Lars Karlsson 2
Ilkka Kuusisto 2
Kyllonen 2
Jukka Linkola 1- 2004
Pehr-Henrik Nordgren  8 great symphonies
Seppo Pohjola  2- 2001, 2006
Tapio Tuomela 2
Harri Vuori 2- 2003, 2007