Not good pieces by good composers

[VodkaDilc]

At least no-one has nominated BB's Owen Wingrave - a much-under-rated piece which is too often dismissed as a low-point of his last decade.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Others would include Shostakovich's 12th Symphony and the Tchaikovsky Piano Sonatas.

Tchaikovsky's Op 37 Piano Sonata is a strange work with many similarities to the 4th Symphony. I orchestrated this for a 3rd party and it made me wonder why Tchaikovsky didn't do so himself. Had he done so, the work would probably have been a highly successful shortish symphony. As it stands, few people are even aware of it.

[Suffolkcoastal]

I think that is half the problem with the Op37 sonata EA, pianistically it just doesn't come off at all. Another work I could add would be Weber's 2nd Symphony, the 1st is a very enjoyable and imaginative work, but the 2nd is largely imitation Mozart and the tiny last two movements make a very unsatisfactory balance.

[Panjandrum]

The LMAO prelude is best ditched, but there's some good music in the opera itself - so I would not suggest it as a contender for "not good pieces".

I parsed that as an internet acronym: "Laughing my A*** Off". Oh well.

[Serial_Apologist]

Tallis - Spem In Alium
J S Bach - Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring
Beethoven - the Scherzo and the Finale: Symphony No 7
Schubert - Symphony No 9
Berlioz - Harold en Italie; Nuits D'Ete
Verdi - everything
Liszt - Tasso
Dukas - Symphony
Roussel - Symphony No 1
Sibelius - Finlandia
R Strauss - Ein Heldenleben; Sinfonia Domestica
Elgar - Sea Pictures
Bax - Symphony No 4
Schoenberg - Pelleas und Melisande
Stravinsky - Persephone; Fairy's Kiss; Symphony in C
Milhaud - Le Boeuf sur le Twat
Prokofiev - The Salute
Shostakovitch - Song of the Forests; Festival Overture
Khachaturian - Spartacus
Barber - Adagio for Strings
Menotti - Amahl and the Night Visitors
Messiaen - Turangalila Symphony
Britten - St Nicholas
Tippett - New Year; The Ice Break; Symphony No 3
Bernstein - everything except West Side Story
Zappa - 200 Motels
Birtwistle - The Minotaur
Reich - everything after Clapping Music
Part - Fratres
Tavener - everything after In Alium
Gorecki - Symphony of Sorrowful Songs
Penderecki - Symphony No 3

[Roehre]

C'mon S_A, you cannot be serious (completely)

[MrGongGong]

C'mon S_A, you cannot be serious (completely)

Surely not Turangalila a work of genius IMV

but every Glass opera EXCEPT Einstein ........... yes

[Serial_Apologist]

Surely not Turangalila a work of genius IMV

but every Glass opera EXCEPT Einstein ........... yes

Flip Glass isn't in my Good Composers category

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Verdi - everything

This suggests you don't think Verdi's a good composer at all, so he shouldn't be included, surely?

[Serial_Apologist]

This suggests you don't think Verdi's a good composer at all, so he shouldn't be included, surely?

He is generally considered good, but following my Msg23, fair point, EA!

[Serial_Apologist]

C'mon S_A, you cannot be serious (completely)

There's no accounting for tastes, Roehr

[MrGongGong]

There's no accounting for tastes, Roehr

What has "taste" got to do with whether music is any good or not ?
often very little IMV

I'm not a great fan of Johnny Cash BUT he was a truly great musician (IMV of course !)

[Mr Pee]

Tallis - Spem In Alium
J S Bach - Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring
Beethoven - the Scherzo and the Finale: Symphony No 7
Schubert - Symphony No 9
Berlioz - Harold en Italie; Nuits D'Ete
Verdi - everything
Liszt - Tasso
Dukas - Symphony
Roussel - Symphony No 1
Sibelius - Finlandia
R Strauss - Ein Heldenleben; Sinfonia Domestica
Elgar - Sea Pictures
Bax - Symphony No 4
Schoenberg - Pelleas und Melisande
Stravinsky - Persephone; Fairy's Kiss; Symphony in C
Milhaud - Le Boeuf sur le Twat
Prokofiev - The Salute
Shostakovitch - Song of the Forests; Festival Overture
Khachaturian - Spartacus
Barber - Adagio for Strings
Menotti - Amahl and the Night Visitors
Messiaen - Turangalila Symphony
Britten - St Nicholas
Tippett - New Year; The Ice Break; Symphony No 3
Bernstein - everything except West Side Story
Zappa - 200 Motels
Birtwistle - The Minotaur
Reich - everything after Clapping Music
Part - Fratres
Tavener - everything after In Alium
Gorecki - Symphony of Sorrowful Songs
Penderecki - Symphony No 3

What an extraordinary selection. There are so many entries on your list that I cannot agree with, but just to take a few- Beethoven 7- that whirlwind finale, like an explosion of energy? It practically gets me leaping around the room in joy every time I hear it. The Barber Adagio is surely just a victim of overexposure- it's magnificent music. Ein Heldenleben- sorry, that wonderful "Hero's Companion" section contains some of the most beautiful music I can imagine. And everything by Bernstein except West Side Story?- you cannot be serious. In fact, I'm sure you aren't. This list is a wind-up, isn't it?

I do agree about Verdi though......

And I was considering nominating 4"33, by John Cage, except that:-

a) John Cage was not a good composer, and

b) 4"33 is not a piece of music.

[MrGongGong]

And I was considering nominating 4"33, by John Cage, except that:-

a) John Cage was not a good composer, and

b) 4"33 is not a piece of music.

Thank you so much for your learned advice
and from now on I will be submitting all my compositions to the P test to make sure that they ARE music

[Nick Armstrong]

Milhaud - Le Boeuf sur le Twat

Dirty boy !!