Modern Classical without the Melancholy
March 5, 2017 1:45 PM   Subscribe

Looking for suggestions of music with the complexity and experimentation found in a lot of modern classical that's more upbeat and joyful!

Alright so I'm a very casual classical fan/singer, and every bit of modern classical I find seems super melancholy. I like that sometimes but I would also love to listen to something that is vibrant and upbeat! Doesn't even really need to be western classical, I just want that big rich orchestral sound + joy. Not at all opposed to things that are somewhat experimental.
People I have been listening to who I love but totally fit the melancholy list include Olafur Arnalds, Sylvain Chauveau, Nihls Frahm, Max Richter, and Library Tapes.
Suggestions?
posted by Wanderwhale to Media & Arts (11 answers total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
 
Have you heard Partita for 8 Voices by Caroline Shaw? It won the Pulitzer a few years back. I think it's pretty joyful, and it blew my mind the first time I heard it.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 1:55 PM on March 5, 2017 [7 favorites]


Seconding the Partita, and check out Anna Meredith, whose work ranges from fairly traditionally "classical" to electronic to pop.
posted by moonmilk at 2:08 PM on March 5, 2017 [1 favorite]


I came in to say the very same piece! Wow, seconding Partita for 8 Voices then.
posted by bluebird at 2:09 PM on March 5, 2017 [1 favorite]


John Adams' Grand Pianola Music is pretty upbeat too.
posted by moonmilk at 2:10 PM on March 5, 2017 [1 favorite]


It's probably an acquired taste but I find Stockhausen's Stimmung really fun.
posted by moonmilk at 2:18 PM on March 5, 2017


I started working my way down this list but got sidetracked by a bunch of Tiny Desk Concerts and luckily ended up at electric violinist Tracy Silverman who I could not call anything except joyful.
posted by yeahlikethat at 2:47 PM on March 5, 2017


More John Adams - Short Ride in a Fast Machine
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 4:19 PM on March 5, 2017 [2 favorites]


Ben Folds' Concerto For Piano and Orchestra on So There [iTunes]

John Luther Adams' Become Ocean [YouTube] (maybe not happy, but I wouldn't consider it melancholy either)
posted by noneuclidean at 5:55 PM on March 5, 2017


Best answer: Oh man, I could go on about this for a while.

I heartily recommend pretty much anything by yMusic, who collaborated with Ben Folds on his concerto. Maybe try the Beautiful Mechanical album, especially the title piece, composed by Son Lux.

My favorite happy John Adams piece is Hallelujah Junction, and I also second the recommendations above.

Steve Reich's Double Sextet and 2x5 are quite upbeat. I'm not sure if it's joyful, exactly, but I also love the propulsive motion of Music for 18 Musicians (and Terry Riley's In C, which reminds me of it in some ways).

I would suggest checking out the world of Bang on a Can, who performed 2x5, in general; some of their pieces are serious but a lot are fun. In general I would say Michael Gordon is the founder who has probably composed the least-somber pieces, but David Lang and Julia Wolfe's music is also definitely worth checking out; plus tons of other composers have written for the very talented ensemble over the years. (Ashley Bathgate, mentioned above, is Bang on a Can's cellist.)

It's a little zany but I also recommend the string quartet arrangement of Sufjan Stevens's electronic album Enjoy Your Rabbit, which contains some joyful moments. (yMusic's version of Year of the Dragon is also fabulous.)

(PS: As a sort of bonus/undercut of the above, basically all of these composers and ensembles have also created wonderful more serious and somber pieces, should you ever find yourself in need of more of that. In particular, I feel like I have to put in a plug for Different Trains, which blew me away. To call it not joyful is an understatement, given the subject matter, but I would argue it has some triumphal moments.)
posted by ferret branca at 8:37 PM on March 5, 2017 [2 favorites]


Michael Torke - try his Saxophone Concerto. His Concerto for Orchestra is a 7-movement, 25-minute work that has some sections that are a little darker/more melancholy, but overall (including the ending) is upbeat.

Kevin Puts - Network, Millennium Cannons

Dobrinka Tabakova - Concerto for Cello and Strings, Suite in the Old Style, Modetudes
posted by mountmccabe at 8:45 AM on March 6, 2017


Great question! I can't wait to check out these recommendations! I second yMusic, and especially Judd Greenstein's piece "Clearing, Dawn, Dance"
posted by MrBobinski at 6:38 PM on March 7, 2017


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