![]() Much of this output was sparked by his love for the scarcely less remarkable pianist and composer Clara Wieck. In both fields, his lyrical and innovative gifts produced white-hot periods of creativity – in the late 1830s on piano, and in the year 1840 with his songs. Schumann’s continuing importance in the fields of piano music and song is towering. The most controversial exclusion from the first 20 was surely Robert Schumann (1810-56). Fully 16 of my choices were born in that same 125-year period, though this time the “golden generation” has moved forward a bit, to the years from 1872 to 1885. Nevertheless, the power of the long 19th century persists. But at least not all of my 20 are dead, and nor are they all Europeans. The lamentable absence of women from such lists also reflects those times – and also our own. ![]() This reflects a reality: in spite of the broadening of public taste in recent decades, the enduring centre of gravity of classical music still lies in the 19th and early-20th centuries. Reviewing my 20 proposals for the salon des refusés it is clear that most of the same generalisations apply. ![]() Five of them were contemporaries – all born between 18. And all bar five were born during Europe’s “long 19th century”, between the French Revolution in 1789 and the outbreak of the first world war in 1914. All were Europeans (in defiance of Brexit, I count Elgar and Britten in that category, and they would have done the same themselves). The lamentable absence of women from such lists reflects those times The enduring centre of gravity of classical music still lies in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Not everyone would give a place to Shostakovich or Sibelius, either – especially if we were doing this 50 years ago. The inclusion in the premier league of two British composers – Elgar and Britten – would astonish compilers of similar lists in other countries. Once you get beyond that first dozen, though, it becomes more a question of judgment and balance, and, to some extent, of taste and tradition. And Handel, Haydn, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Wagner, Debussy and Stravinsky were pretty much certs for inclusion, too. Beethoven was an obvious first selection for that series Bach, Mozart, Schubert and Brahms didn’t require a whole lot of debate, either. In some respects, I think this is a trickier assignment than choosing the original 20.
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