My list of the most significant composers of the 20th Century.
Listed by age of birth.
– Claude Debussy (1862-1918) – La Mer 1905.
– Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) – Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major. 1915 .
– Ralph Vaughan William (1872-1958) – The Lark Ascending 1914.
– Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) – Isle of the Dead 1908.
– Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) – Gurre-Lieder. 1910.
– Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) – Valses nobles et sentimentales. 1912
– Béla Bartók (1881-1945): Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. 1936.
– Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) -: Le Sacre du printemps 1913
– Edgard Varèse (1883-1965) – Ionisation 1931
– Alban Berg (1885-1935) – Wozzeck 1924
– Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) – Czech Rhapsody 1918.
– Sergei Prokofiev 1891-1953) – War and Peace.
– Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) – Sinfonietta 1947
– Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) – Symphony No. 8 1943
– Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) – Turangalîla-Symphonie 1948
– Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) – War Requiem 1962
– Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994) – Concerto for Orchestra 1954
– György Ligeti (1923-2006) – Atmosphere 1961
– Henryk Górecki (1933-2010) – Symphony No 3. “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” 1976.
– Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) – Requiem 1975
NOTE: Some might object, that i claim that Debussy is a primarily 20th Century composer. But some of his most significant works, is from the 20th century as is of value considered the so-called impressionistic period on classical music.
And, there are no living composers on the list. That is for another list.
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