POLLERO!: ILM's Top 100 Notated Pieces of Music Since 1890

messiaen liked game-type systems, he had this weird musical alphabet thing going for awhile

someone asked him if he really thought it was communicable to listeners and he said "c'est un jeu"

Messiaennnnnnnn

liked birds iirc
and jesus

can i just take a moment, for anyone who is diligently making to-listen lists from all this, if you start getting into Messiaen please check out the 20 minute solo piano piece La Roussarolle Effarvette (The Reed Warbler). It's from his massive cycle of ornithological piano works Catalogue D'Oiseaux, and in this piece he 'depicts' an entire 24 hour cycle in the life of a French marsh, it is music to live by.

i didn't nominate it only because it seemed excessive to nominate the entire Catalogue

Not much of a fan of Messiaen myself. That Alex Ross book has probably had some influence?

I wanted to call out a few specific pieces of British choral music that ppl should check out:

https://play.spotify.com/album/42PjwoPOw3UzyXkIvvQQ5b
Frank Martin: Mass for Double Chorus (particularly the "Agnus Dei")

https://play.spotify.com/track/7GJzibotlvYkUM8AP1fau1
Herbert Howells: Take him, Earth, for cherishing (written on the occasion of JFK's assassination)

https://play.spotify.com/track/1VJx0lbD8564c7U3qlrh09
Benjamin Britten: Hymn to St Cecilia (really check all of Britten's choral music, dude was a master)

https://play.spotify.com/track/0LYnJH42w6itoek1vtv5iA
Charles Ives: Psalm 67 (notable mostly because the women are singing in C-major and the men are singing in G-minor)

https://play.spotify.com/album/1MEil2WMsiotndFOFHgqYU (start at track 6)
Herbert Howells: Requiem (this dude is an unsung hero of British choral music in my opinion)

https://play.spotify.com/track/5xndSoWdGIrwcnRHBmt16P
https://play.spotify.com/track/4ltqbRA0cTpY8DkdKNwJmv
https://play.spotify.com/track/2GRTpVUSY5iz4HrQwBDRTf
Ralph Vaughn Williams: Three Shakespeare Songs

Serialism is just a method of organizing pitch and it can sound like a lot of things (including Bill Evans or Blood, Sweat, and Tears). I do think the Second Viennese School had a common aesthetic that is central to some people's conceptions of 20th century music, though. As serialism goes, aside from the pieces that were mentioned, Kreuzspiel is not just serialism but integral serialism: even the accents in the percussion part follow a 12-number pattern. I'm not totally sure about Kontakte: I wanted to say that at least the acoustic parts were written with serial methods but I can find no proof of this and I'm not doing an analysis right now.

Some excellent stuff in this thread, some of which I've heard but quite a fair bit that I haven't. Thanks for this, Sund4r!

(Ives was [fiercely] American btw.)

DJP probably meant to say English language choral music

Speaking which DJP what do you think of the (chorus + orchestra) Five Tudor Portraits by Vaughan Williams? An oddball masterpiece IMO

And I'm gonna check out all your choral tips that I don't know.

Oh yeah, that makes sense.

I still have nothing significant to contribute to this most excellent thread, just came to say

• Last Friday I crossed paths with the son of this guy, who apparently was at some point Villa-Lobos right hand man
• Earlier last week came across a copy of the recent book of John Cage's Selected Letters and confirmed his participation in this poker game.

Thanks for the choral music recs btw! Will def look into those, esp Britten.

We're doing Hymn to St Cecilia this november :) It's good, though perhaps not my favorite Britten. In a way, it was just better singing Britten as a little boy, he was perhaps the best at writing music for children ever? His Spring Symphony, A Boy Was Born, Hymn to the Virgin.

And Noye's Fludde, now semi-famous thanks to Wes Anderson!

I think Spring Symphony is my favorite of his works with choir.

Moonrise Kingdom is the best Wes Anderson by far, btw, and it's 90% because of the interplay with Britten-music. Young Persons Guide in the opening and on the credits! So good.

and desplat's brief britten-inspired original score

DJP probably meant to say English language choral music

lol I forgot I put Ives in there

just wanted to drop in and say great poll as well, special thanks for all of the choral recommendations, I am always a sucker for a choral piece above all else

Don't miss out on Maurice Ohana's spine tingling
works with choir - he did a fair amount of it. Also lutoslawski's Trois Poemes de Henri Michaux has very unusual choral writing.

I must reiterate I am very happy to have this playlist to work from. I might go back to the nominations list as well and pick up some of those very familiar names whose music is pretty much a blank to me at this point. So far I am gravitating toward Bartok, Sibelius, and Messiaen.

If sund4r wants to publish the 101-200 placements, I'll make a second playlist for those.

(Meant Debussy not Sibelius.)

(Although much of Preludes for Piano is to Romantic for me.)

There was a tie at 199 so here's 1-199. The bottom five or so received one vote each:

1 Igor Stravinsky - Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) 1502 12 1
2 Olivier Messiaen - Turangalîla-Symphonie 1458 11 1
3 Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians 1234 10 0
4 Olivier Messiaen - Quatuor pour le fin de temps 1225 10 0
5 Krzysztof Penderecki - Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima 1060 8 0
6 Henryk Gorecki - Symphony No. 3 'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs' 970 8 0
7 Maurice Ravel - Boléro 949 8 0
8 Igor Stravinsky - Firebird 940 7 0
9 Terry Riley - In C 881 8 0
10 George Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue 826 8 0
11 Bela Bartok - Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta 816 6 0
12 Igor Stravinsky - Petrushka 788 6 0
13 Morton Feldman - Rothko Chapel 780 7 0
14 Karlheinz Stockhausen - Kontakte 754 6 0
15 Steve Reich - Drumming 741 6 0
16 Philip Glass - Einstein on the Beach 694 5 0
17 Gyorgy Ligeti - Atmosphères 692 5 0
18 Arvo Pärt - Tabula Rasa 682 5 0
19 Jean Sibelius - Tapiola 668 4 0
20 Steve Reich - Different Trains 667 6 0
21 Claude Debussy - Preludes (Books 1 and 2) 663 5 1
22 Arvo Pärt - Fratres 648 5 0
23 Claude Debussy - Prélude a l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) 636 5 0
24 Gustav Holst - The Planets 632 7 0
25 Leonard Bernstein et al - West Side Story 627 4 0
26 Gustav Mahler - Symphony no. 6 625 5 0
27 Duke Ellington - The Far East Suite 598 5 0
28 John Cage - 4'33' 594 5 1
29 Philip Glass - Music in 12 Parts 594 4 1
30 Olivier Messiaen - L'Ascension 575 5 0
31 Karlheinz Stockhausen - Stimmung 566 6 0
32 Glenn Branca - Symphony no. 3 555 6 0
33 Igor Stravinsky - Agon 539 4 0
34 Luciano Berio - Sinfonia 533 6 0
35 Alban Berg - Wozzeck 522 4 0
35 Gyorgy Ligeti - Requiem 522 4 0
37 Gyorgy Ligeti - Lux Aeterna 517 4 0
38 Gabriel Fauré - Requiem in D minor 516 4 0
39 Claude Debussy - Nocturnes 515 4 0
40 Claude Debussy - La mer 514 3 0
41 Bela Bartok - Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion 511 4 0
42 Arvo Pärt - Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten 507 4 0
43 John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes for the Prepared Piano 489 5 1
44 Steve Reich - Tehillim 483 4 0
45 Claude Debussy - Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp 483 3 0
46 Jean Sibelius - Symphony no. 6 480 3 0
47 Ennio Morricone - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 477 4 0
48 Alfred Schnittke - Concerto for Choir 475 4 0
49 Gavin Bryars - Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet 473 3 0
50 Arnold Schoenberg - Pierrot Lunaire 471 3 0
51 edgard varèse - Ionisation 467 5 0
52 Benjamin Britten - Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings 461 3 0
53 Philip Glass - Music in Similar Motion 453 3 0
54 Bela Bartok - Mikrokosmos 452 4 0
55 John Zorn - Cobra 449 4 0
56 Bela Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra 446 3 0
57 Karlheinz Stockhausen - Kreuzspiel 442 4 0
58 Edgard Varese - Density 21.5 439 5 0
59 Louis Andriessen - De Staat 433 4 0
60 Maurice Ravel - Rapsodie espagnole 433 3 0
61 Yamashiro Shoji (with Geinoh Yamashirogumi) - Akira (Original Soundtrack) 429 3 0
62 Bela Bartok - String Quartet no. 4 427 3 0
63 Maurice Ravel - String Quartet in F 412 4 0
64 Benjamin Britten - War Requiem 409 3 0
65 Steve Reich - Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ 404 4 0
66 Pierre Boulez - le marteau sans maître 399 3 0
67 Brian Eno - Discreet Music 396 3 0
68 John Luther Adams - Become Ocean 395 4 0
69 Jerry Goldsmith - Alien, film score 388 3 0
70 Gustav Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde 388 2 0
71 Igor Stravinsky - Les Noces 381 3 0
72 Claude Debussy - String Quartet in G Minor 380 3 0
73 Gustav Mahler - Symphony no. 9 380 2 1
74 Gavin Bryars - The Sinking of the Titanic 375 3 0
75 Antonin Dvořák - Symphony no. 9 ('New World') 374 4 1
76 Iannis Xenakis - Pithoprakta 370 4 0
76 Steve Reich - Sextet 370 4 0
78 Charles Ives - The Unanswered Question 368 3 0
79 Jean Sibelius - Symphony No. 4 366 4 0
80 Gustav Mahler - Symphony no. 5 365 4 0
81 Philip Glass - Akhnaten 363 3 0
82 George Gershwin - An American In Paris 361 4 0
83 Antonin Dvořák - Rusalka 356 2 0
84 Steve Reich - Piano Phase 354 4 0
85 Giacomo Puccini - Manon Lescaut 350 2 0
86 Claude Debussy - Etudes 346 2 0
87 Scott Joplin - The Entertainer 345 4 0
88 luciano berio - Sequenza III (for female voice) 342 5 0
89 Igor Stravinsky - Symphonies of Wind Instruments 340 3 0
90 Ennio Morricone - For A Few Dollars More, film score 335 4 0
90 Les Baxter - Quiet Village 335 4 0
92 Glenn Branca - Symphony no. 13 ('Hallucination City') 333 3 0
93 Maurice Duruflé - Requiem 332 2 0
94 Arvo Pärt - Magnificat 329 3 0
95 Gustav Mahler - Symphony no. 3 328 3 0
96 John Cage - First Construction in Metal 327 3 0
97 Meredith Monk - Dolmen Music 323 4 0
98 Iannis Xenakis - Metastasis 322 4 0
99 Benjamin Britten - The Turn of the Screw, opera after Henry James 320 2 0
100 Gérard Grisey - Les espaces acoustiques 318 2 0
101 Maurice Ravel - Gaspard de la nuit 316 3 0
102 Maurice Ravel - Daphnis et Chloe 314 2 0
102 Maurice Ravel - La valse 314 2 0
104 Jean Sibelius - The Tempest, incidental music for the play 310 3 0
105 Aaron Copland - Appalachian Spring 310 2 0
106 Erik Satie - Trois Gnossienes 306 5 0
107 Steve Reich - Four Organs 304 3 0
108 Olivier Messiaen - Trois petites liturgies de la présence divine 300 3 0
109 Scott Joplin - The Maple Leaf Rag 299 3 0
110 Giacomo Puccini - Tosca 299 2 0
110 Percy Grainger - A Lincolnshire Posy 299 2 0
112 Witold Lutoslawski - Symphony no. 3 297 3 0
113 Alban Berg - Lulu 295 3 0
113 Glenn Branca - Symphony no. 6 295 3 0
113 Kurt Weill (with Bertolt Brecht) - Threepenny Opera 295 3 0
116 Per Norgard - Symphony no. 2 294 3 0
117 John Cage - In a Landscape 293 2 0
118 Maurice Ravel - Valses nobles et sentimentales 292 2 0
119 Bela Bartok - Out of Doors (Szabadban), Sz. 81 288 2 0
120 John Tavener - The Protecting Veil 285 3 0
121 Claude Debussy - Pelléas et Mélisande 284 2 0
122 Sergei Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky 283 3 0
123 Giacomo Puccini - La Boheme 283 2 0
124 Steve Reich - violin phase 282 3 0
125 John Cage - Williams Mix 281 2 0
126 Gabriel Fauré - Piano Trio 279 3 0
127 Henryk Gorecki - Miserere 279 2 0
128 Alfred Schnittke - Concerto Grosso No.1 278 2 0
129 Alice Coltrane - Galaxy in Satchidananda 277 2 0
130 John Adams - Nixon in China 275 3 0
131 Iannis Xenakis - Pléïades 275 2 0
132 Bernard Herrmann - Vertigo, film score 273 4 0
133 Gustav Holst - First Suite in E-flat for Military Band 273 3 0
134 Henry Cowell - The Banshee 265 3 0
135 Harrison Birtwistle - Punch and Judy 265 2 0
135 witold lutosławski - string quartet 265 2 0
137 Owen Pallett - Heartland 264 2 0
138 Howard Shore - The Fellowship of the Ring, film score 263 3 0
139 Gyorgy Ligeti - Violin Concerto 262 2 0
139 John Adams - A Short Ride in a Fast Machine 262 2 0
141 Igor Stravinsky - The Rakes Progress 261 3 0
142 Claude Debussy - Children's Corner 260 2 0
143 Dmitry Shostakovich - Symphony no. 14 (song cycle for two singers and orchestra) 258 2 0
144 Per Norgard - Symphony no. 3 256 2 0
145 Charles Koechlin - The Jungle Book 254 3 0
146 Astor Piazzolla - Libertango 253 2 0
146 John Adams - Harmonium 253 2 0
148 U Totem - One Nail Draws Another 252 2 0
149 Krzysztof Penderecki - Symphony No.1 248 3 0
150 Gil Evans - Sunken Treasure 248 2 0
150 Jean Sibelius - Symphony No. 7 248 2 0
150 Olivier Messiaen - Des canyons aux étoiles 248 2 0
153 Sergei Rachmaninoff - Piano Concertos 1-4 245 2 0
154 Ralph Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis 242 4 0
155 Elliott Carter - String Quartet No. 1 241 2 0
156 Maurice Ravel - Miroirs 240 2 0
157 Claude Vivier - Lonely Child 236 2 0
157 Gustav Mahler - Symphony no. 7 236 2 0
157 Scott Joplin - Solace 236 2 0
160 Ottorino Respighi - Pines of Rome 235 2 0
161 Olivier Messiaen - Vingt Regards sur L'enfant-Jesus 233 2 0
162 Bernard Herrmann - Psycho, film score 232 2 0
163 Olivier Messiaen - Chronochromie 231 2 0
164 Olivier Messiaen - La Nativité du Seigneur 229 2 0
165 Howard Shore - Crash, film score 228 2 0
166 John Luther Adams - Inuksuit 227 3 0
167 Arnold Schoenberg - Verklarte Nacht 226 4 0
168 Louis Andriessen - Hoketus 226 2 0
169 Gyorgy Ligeti - Lontano 225 3 0
170 Leoš Janáček - Capriccio for Piano (left hand) and Wind Instruments 224 2 0
171 Bela Bartok - String Quartet no. 5 217 2 0
172 Edward Elgar - Cello Concerto 216 3 0
173 Steve Reich - City Life 215 2 0
174 John Cage - credo in us 212 3 0
175 Charles Koechlin - Les Heures Persanes 212 2 0
176 Dmitry Shostakovich - 24 Preludes and Fugues (op. 87) 210 2 0
176 Pauline Oliveros - Six for New Time 210 2 0
178 Bela Bartok - String Quartet no. 3 207 2 0
179 Milton Babbitt - Philomel 206 2 0
180 Edgard Varese - Arcana 202 3 0
181 Ennio Morricone - Once Upon A Time In America, film score 202 2 0
181 Kurt Schwitters - Ursonate 202 2 0
181 Morton Subotnick - Silver Apples of the Moon 202 2 0
181 Peter Warlock - The Curlew 202 2 0
181 Wendy Carlos - Timesteps 202 2 0
181 harrison birtwistle - triumph of time 202 2 0
181 luciano berio - laborintus 2 202 2 0
188 Bela Bartok - Piano Concerto No.2 201 2 0
189 Karlheinz Stockhausen - Mikrophonie II 200 2 0
189 Karlheinz Stockhausen - Prozession 200 2 0
189 Ornette Coleman - Skies of America 200 2 0
189 Steve Reich - phase patterns 200 2 0
189 henryk gorecki - harpsichord concerto 200 2 0
189 ornette coleman - dedication to poets and writers 200 2 0
195 Giuseppe Verdi - Falstaff 200 1 1
195 Jean Sibelius - Finlandia 200 1 1
195 Sofia Gubaidulina - The Canticle of the Sun 200 1 1
198 George Lewis - Homage to Charles Parker 198 1 0
199 Lili Boulanger - Clairières dans le ciel 196 1 0
199 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh 196 1 0

I wanted to call out a few specific pieces of British choral music that ppl should check out:

Just to nitpick, Frank Martin was a francophone Swiss who also lived in Italy, France and the Netherlands.

195 Sofia Gubaidulina - The Canticle of the Sun 200 1 1
199 Lili Boulanger - Clairières dans le ciel 196 1 0

Wow, kinda sad I was the only one to vote for these, didn't expect that... I expected there to be more love for Gubaidulina especially, she's pretty prominent and well recorded.

had a listen to that george lewis piece and nice v v nice

is there a spotify link to this anywhere?

got it, never mind

I haven't gotten around to doing the 101-200 playlist yet btw. Maybe during the holiday lull.

I'm not sure why I was AWOL for this! I remember nominating stuff, The Unanswered Question for one.

I'm never quite sure how popular Messiaen is, but that's a pleasing result on that front.

It looks like, if I'd be paying attention, Daphnis et Chloe, Alexander Nevsky and some Lutoslawski and Koechlin might have just snuck into the 100. :)

I just want to say thank you for this thread to all who participated. I've been making my way through this list and have found so many amazing pieces. Today's discovery: Arvo Part's Fratres, Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, and Tabula Rasa.

This Sunday's NYT piece on the straightjacketing effect of Rhapsody in Blue over the course of the last 100 years annoyed me but also had some truth to it