Reply #29: Classical - but not really mainstream [View All]

[tjwmason]

Rennaissance music kicks ass majorly, as does most Baroque - but less so instrumental stuff (my whole C.D. collection is heavily biased towards sacred music), getting into the Classical era I become very very picky.

The 19th century is mostly a dead-loss for me. The big exception is Wagner - I know he was a pretty screwed-up guy and his views were beastly, but his music is stunning. The other exception is syrupy English church music, if you know any of the sacred works of Sir Arthur Sullivan you'll know the style exactly.

The 20th century just gets better and better. The French organ school (starting with Saint-Seans in the 19th c., and flowing right through to the present with Naji Hakim) is without doubt one of the greatest periods of creativity known to man. Olivier Messiaen stands head and shoulders above everybody else, a major part of that organ school but also reaching far beyond it too (Turangalila and Quator pour le fin de temps - to name but 2 examples). Later in the century, the mystic minimalists arise, my favourite being Arvo Paert (had Kanon Pokajanen and Passio on many times during Lent).