steve
2017-12-26 23:58:28 UTC
The other day I was listening to a podcast about Respighi’s Tone poems. One of the commentators said that Respighi was one of the top “3 or 4” Orchestrators. That got me to thinking “who would I rate as the top 5 Orchestrators”
First a bit of weaseling: Modern composers have a lot more orchestral recourses than say composers of the classic era. So it is a bit unfair. Who can know what composers of the Baroque, Classic or Romantic era would have done with modern instrumentation. Also there are my preferences & prejudices.
So here are my thoughts:
The usual suspects:
1. Berlioz
2. Ravel
3. Richard Strauss
Others who had to work with fewer resources
4. Bach- who really know but I think he does with the Brandenburg Concertos is interesting
5. Mozart
I know a lot of people would rate Mahler highly but I have never been much of a fan of Mahler
I think you could make a case for some film composers but I’m not sure who
There ought to be some from the 20th & 21st century but I’m not sure who – surly not Philip Glass. Maybe Sibelius, Corligliano, ?
I’m sure somebody else can come up with a better list.
Steve Gerdemann
First a bit of weaseling: Modern composers have a lot more orchestral recourses than say composers of the classic era. So it is a bit unfair. Who can know what composers of the Baroque, Classic or Romantic era would have done with modern instrumentation. Also there are my preferences & prejudices.
So here are my thoughts:
The usual suspects:
1. Berlioz
2. Ravel
3. Richard Strauss
Others who had to work with fewer resources
4. Bach- who really know but I think he does with the Brandenburg Concertos is interesting
5. Mozart
I know a lot of people would rate Mahler highly but I have never been much of a fan of Mahler
I think you could make a case for some film composers but I’m not sure who
There ought to be some from the 20th & 21st century but I’m not sure who – surly not Philip Glass. Maybe Sibelius, Corligliano, ?
I’m sure somebody else can come up with a better list.
Steve Gerdemann