Masterpieces of contemporary (art) music. Recommended popular pieces.

Violin ConcertoErich Wolfgang Korngold

Hilary Hahn – Korngold – Violin Concerto in D major, Op 35

There’s no end to the anecdotes about the child prodigy Korngold.

After hearing a cantata he wrote at age nine, Mahler declared, “He’s a genius!” and the piano sonata he composed at twelve astonished Richard Strauss—his biography is filled with examples too numerous to count.

He would face hardships after that, but that’s another story.

Among his works, the most famous is this Violin Concerto.

It’s a piece suffused with a lyrical, decadent atmosphere, evoking a fragile beauty.

KraftMagnus Lindberg

Magnus Lindberg: Kraft / Gilbert · Berliner Philharmoniker

Now here comes a sound that truly says “contemporary music.” Yes, this is contemporary music.

Its aggressive, unfamiliar phrasing and rhythms are like a housewife panicking after plates and bowls tumble out of the kitchen cupboard overhead.

Stravinsky – Pulcinella SuiteJaap van Zweden

Stravinsky: Pulcinella (complete)

A Classical-period masterpiece that boldly reworks and repurposes the music of the Baroque-era Italian composer Pergolesi.

At first glance, its clear, beautiful melodies don’t evoke Stravinsky, but throughout the piece it contains numerous clever devices that led the patron to wryly remark it was like “adding a mustache to the Mona Lisa.”

Didgeridoo Concerto, Movement II: “Wind”Sean O’Boyle

It’s an eccentric piece written for didgeridoo—a traditional instrument used by Australia’s Indigenous Aboriginal people during ceremonies—and orchestra.

It takes real courage just to try blending an instrument that produces so many overtones and such ambiguous pitch with an orchestra, but the piece succeeds brilliantly as a work of art.

Boulez : Le Marteau Sans MaîtreCallithumpian Consort

Le Marteau Sans Maître – Boulez – Callithumpian Consort – FULL VIDEO

A representative work by Pierre Boulez, who, not only as a conductor but also as a composer and critic, had a major influence on post–World War II contemporary music.

Rather than simply presenting three types of music labeled 1, 2, and 3, the piece is composed as a groundbreaking experiment that offers the audience a combination of several parts divided and interwoven.