The list of the best modern piano composers for the pianoforte, their life and their main works and piano pieces.
1. Frederic Rzewski
Frederic Rzewski (born December 5, 1927) is a composer and pianist. He is best known for his work as a composer and performer of contemporary music.
Rzewski was born in New York City. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music with Nadia Boulanger and taught at the Eastman School of Music from 1960 to 1967. In 1967, he left Juilliard to teach at Columbia University where he remained until 1973.
Rzewski has written over forty works for piano alone and more than forty pieces for other instruments, including violin, cello, viola da gamba, harpsichord, harp, flute, oboe d’amore and electric guitar. His compositions have been performed by major orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra; the Cleveland Orchestra; the London Symphony Orchestra; the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C.; the San Francisco Symphony; the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and many others around the world.
He has received numerous awards for his work including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1974 and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1983. In addition to being named a Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by President Francois Mitterrand of France in 1985, Rzewski was awarded an honorary doctorate from Yale University in 1989.
2. Max Richter
Max Richter is a German composer and pianist. He was born in 1962 in Hamburg, Germany.
Richter studied piano at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, where he also received his master’s degree in composition. In 1988, he won the Herbert von Karajan Prize for Newcomers. He has since then been a prominent figure on the international concert scene and has performed across Europe, North America and Asia.
His works are often described as “modern” or “post-modern” as they employ many techniques including electronic music, improvisation and other forms of experimentation. His compositions have been played by many notable musicians such as Yoko Ono, Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and Brian Eno.
3. Ludovico Einaudi
Ludovico Einaudi is a famous Italian composer. His main works include:
– Notturno
– Occhiali d’oro (The golden eye glasses)
– Sospiri (Sighs)
– Una notte di mezza estate (A night of half summer)
His best piano pieces are:
– Lontano (Far away) from the “Tristesse” (Tristesse) album by Chopin, which is his most famous work.
– Canto per lei (Song for her), which is a beautiful piece of music that was written for the film “The Leopard” by Luchino Visconti.
4. Wim Mertens
Wim Mertens is a Belgian composer, pianist and conductor. He was born in Brussels on March 7th, 1956. Mertens started his piano studies at the age of seven, and went on to study composition with Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire. He also studied conducting with Pierre Boulez. His first major work was the opera “Noces” for soprano and orchestra which he composed while still a student at the Conservatoire. It premiered in 1981. The opera won him several awards including the Grand Prix National de l’Opera in 1982, and the Prix d’Interprétation Musicale de la Ville de Paris in 1984.
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