The Greatest Contemporary Composers Of Classical Music
Classical music has no particular fixed definition beyond the use of staff notation and the specific set of instruments used. The music also tends to be complex and the performance requiring a rigid adherence to the written music. Beyond those things, the genre consists of a wide variety of styles and has been written in many eras from the era of Beethoven to contemporary composers like those named below. Tastes vary, but as far modern day composers go, a few a generally agreed upon as being among the best.Never heard of this before? Get up to speed here.
Ennio Morricone
This 83 year-old composer is thought of primarily as a writer of film scores. That the fact that a piece of music has used in a film does not make it any less “classical” than music written 2 centuries ago. The son of a jazz trumpeter, Morricone’s career started at age 6 when he started lessons in the trumpet. He entered a conservatory at age 12 where he formally studied the trumpet, choral music, composition and choral direction. At the height of the popularity of the radio serial, Morricone began composing background music for radio dramas. In the mid 1950s he began composing for movies as a ghostwriter for well-known composers or under several pseudonyms. Morricone’s best-known work shows up in the films of director Sergio Leone, particularly well-known is the theme to the movie The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. His most recent film-work appears on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.
Angelo Badalamenti
Like Morricone, Badalamenti’s heritage is Italian. Another similarity is that Badalamenti is also best known for his film scores. He was, however, born in New York, not Italy. Badalamenti has a master’s degree in music which he earned at the Manhattan School of Music. While he has written scores for a number of mainstream films, much of his work has been in the films of director David Lynch, including the television show Twin Peaks. His most recent film work is in the 2010 film Secretariat.
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