Why?

Originally posted by J. Lee Graham@Aug 5 2005, 03:17 AM
[b]These come to mind:

Gioacchino Rossini (oh my GAWD...how could anyone leave him off? At least as good as Donizetti in the early 19th Century Italian School)
Luigi Cherubini (pathetically underappreciated)
Domenico Cimarosa (ditto)

"You know, this fellow Wagner has some wonderful moments, but some incredibly dull quarters of an hour."* (Rossini lived long enough to hear some of Wanger's operas, and many of us echo his sentiments)

When told that Rossini had written an entire opera in 10 days, Donizetti replied dryly: "That bastard Rossini always was a lazy son of a bitch."

Love your two quotes! But I wasn't overlooking Rossini, he's actually on the original list Thanks for adding the other two though.

Loving these quotes! I copied them to my "Library of Quotes" that I keep on my computer... An opera in ten days? Wow... I can't write an aria in ten days... I'd love to be a lazy son of a bitch and finish my opera up in 10 days!

Harrison Birtwistle? sure, 'The Triumph of Time' is okay, but...

Here's a few composers that I have been particularly fond of whose absence from your list has filled me with shock and dismay!

Ernst von Dohnányi (my favorite)
Kaikhosru Sorabji
Robert Simpson
Havergal Brian
John Corigliano
Lowell Liebermann

Welcome, Matusleo.

I wasn't overlooking Rossini, he's actually on the original list

Sorry Jonathan! Mea maxima culpa!

Another anecdote about Rossini - one that probably gave rise to his reputation for laziness (relatively speaking):

Rossini used to compose in bed a lot. He'd just sit there in bed for days and compose. Once, when a page he was writing on fell off the bed onto the floor, he sighed, looked down at it, shrugged his shoulders, and started over from scratch on a new sheet rather than expend the energy to pick it up off the floor!

Originally posted by J. Lee Graham@Aug 5 2005, 03:47 PM
[b]Rossini used to compose in bed a lot. He'd just sit there in bed for days and compose. Once, when a page he was writing on fell off the bed onto the floor, he sighed, looked down at it, shrugged his shoulders, and started over from scratch on a new sheet rather than expend the energy to pick it up off the floor!

Reminds me of a quote from the TV cartoon family guy:
"I'd be apathetic if I wasn't so lethargic."

Originally posted by J. Lee Graham@Aug 5 2005, 05:47 PM
[b]Rossini used to compose in bed a lot.* He'd just sit there in bed for days and compose.* Once, when a page he was writing on fell off the bed onto the floor, he sighed, looked down at it, shrugged his shoulders, and started over from scratch on a new sheet rather than expend the energy to pick it up off the floor!

Thar reminds me of Allan Pettersson. Swedish composer who passed away in 1980 I believe. Ten years earlier he'd been hospitalized with cancer, and only barely survived. During his hospital stay he wrote his 10th and 11th Symphonies, on his bed sheets!

Oh dear! That's funny...yet sad at the same time. If it's true, it shows that Rossini could be a jackass to a fellow musician like Mozart could...and apparently quite a few others. I hate to hear that, because it lowers him in my estimation. I've said it before, but it bears repeating: genius does not give anyone carte blanche to be cruel or unkind. Very unbecoming.

I don't see why not...

There's also the anecdote of Verdi needing to lock up his librettist, Temistocle Solera, in a room to get him to finish the bloody words. One time, Solera discovered he had been locked in the room containing Verdi's wine cellar.

I like to imagine Verdi opening the door later to get his libretto and going: 'Oops'.

Aside from that, the lists have forgetten Biber, Berlioz, Britten, Orff (who believe it or not wrote things OTHER than that bloody Carmina Burana), and, of all people, Purcell. Fie on you all.

Nice list here, but....

Just where exactly is Jean Sibelius?

Seriously now, people, I just stumbled upon this awesome forum and am frightened by the lack of love for (or perhaps interest in?) the great Finnish composer. I listen to more of Sibelius' works than any other composer on that list--including the "masters"--and i've collected the scores of most of his tone poems and symphonies (which are all fantastic and highly original, but also approachable). Imho, the emotion and organic logic one hears in a single sibelius symphony (No. 7 ) blows the works of most other composers out of the water.

All right I've finished my rant, carry on.

I'll support that RANT!

Late Romantic composers seem to get ignored because their works are just too big for many people's attention spans. Until recently, I seemed to be the only Brahms aficionado around here. Also, Borodin is criminally neglected.