If music be the food of love...

Welcome to my music page. Here I list those musicians whose music interests me, with links where possible. There is a music library which contains lists of recordings that I own and/or especially recommend, as well as music scores which I own; you can also check out my musical links, or if you wish return to my main page.





Musicians

The following is a list of musicians I either like, listen to or have been inspired by - in most cases, all three! - listed along with what I consider to be some of the highlights of their work (note that I do not list works that I have not heard personally!). The list is divided up into three sections: concert music, jazz, rock, pop & dance music and world music. Groups and individuals are listed in alphabetical order, while listings of their works are (as best I can manage) listed chronologically.


Concert Music

  • Elliot Carter (1908-), widely hailed as the greatest living American composer. His best works include,
    • Double Concerto for Piano and Harpsichord
    • Clarinet Concerto

  • Ensemble Bash, British percussion quartet with a wide repertoire ranging from Bach to John Cage, from the Beatles to jazz and minimalism. Their two albums are,
    • Slapstick Whipcrack Thundersheet
    • LAUNCH, released on Sony Classical

  • Brian Ferneyhough, British composer who has spent much of his time in Europe or the United States. Highlights of his works include,
    • Transit (1972-74)

  • Philip Glass (1937-), American minimalist composer. Highlights of his work include,
    • Einstein On The Beach (1975) - opera, created in collaboration with Robert Wilson
    • String Quartet No. 2, "Company" (1983)
    • String Quartet No. 3, "Mishima" (1985)
    • String Quartet No. 4, "Buczak" (1990)
    • String Quartet No. 5 (1991)
    • "Low" Symphony (1993), from the music of David Bowie and Brian Eno
    • "Heroes" Symphony (1997), from the music of David Bowie and Brian Eno

  • Olivier Messiaen (1908-92), French composer. His music mixes many things including Debussy-influenced harmonies, serialism, birdsong and his own particular theories of rhythm and harmony. Highlights of his work include,
    • Quator pour la fin du temps (1940-41), for clarinet, violin, cello and piano, written and first performed while Messiaen was imprisoned in a POW camp, and inspired by the vision of the Apocalypse as listed in the Revelation of St. John

  • Steve Reich (1936-), American minimalist composer. Highlights of his work include,
    • Music for 18 Musicians
    • Music for Mallet Instruments, Organ and Voices
    • Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards

  • Toru Takemitsu (1930-96), Japanese composer. Influenced by Messiaen, Debussy, Duke Ellington (!) and the Beatles (!!) as well as Japanese music and philosophical ideas. Highlights of his work include,
    • Water-Waves (), for piano, clarinet, violin, cello, vibraphones and harps and dedicated to the American pianist Peter Serkin
    • A Flock Descends Into The Pentagonal Garden
    • Fantasma/Cantos (1990-91), for clarinet and orchestra. Written for the clarinettist Richard Stoltzman.


Jazz

  • Miles Davis (1928-91), American trumpet player and composer, wideley acclaimed as one of the greatest jazz musicians the world has seen. His finest albums include,
    • Kind of Blue
    • Sketches of Spain

  • Fred Hersch, American pianist and composer, whose influences include Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk. His albums include,
    • Point In Time (the Fred Hersch Trio & Quintet)
    • Fred Hersch Plays Rodgers & Hammerstein
    • Thelonious, a tribute album to Thelonious Monk

  • David Jean-Baptiste, British clarinettist/saxophonist and composer, influenced particularly by his Caribbean origins.
    • Feeling Tones

  • Thelonious Monk, American pianist and prolific composer. His most famous tunes include,
    • 'Round Midnight
    • Epistrophy
    • Mysterioso
    • Bemsha Swing


Rock, Pop & Dance Music

  • The Beatles - no further introduction needed! All of their albums are great, but perhaps the best are,
    • A Hard Day's Night
    • Rubber Soul
    • Revolver
    • Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
    • The Beatles a.k.a. The White Album
    • Abbey Road

  • Blur, British "Britpop" band who seem to have lost out to Oasis in the popularity stakes (though not, in my opinion, the artistic ones...) Their best albums include,
    • Leisure
    • Parklife
    • The Great Escape
    • Blur

  • David Bowie, British rock solo artist who celebrated his 50th birthday in 1997 yet still has his finger on the cutting edge of music today. Some of his best albums (from a career spanning four decades!) include,
    • The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
    • Low
    • "Heroes"
    • Black Tie White Noise
    • (part 1 of The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Gothic Non-Linear Hyper-Cycle)
    • Earthling

  • Garbage, an excellent rock band fronted by Scottish singer Shirley Manson, with Nirvana producer Butch Vig on the drums. Their only album that I know of is the self-titled,
    • Garbage

  • U2, Irish rock band who remain one of the most popular in the world. With the PopMart tour they created one of the most amazing live acts the world is likely to see for a long time! I only possess one album of theirs, the most recent:
    • Pop


World Music







The Music Library





Musical Links






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