Couldn't agree more. It also shows that these type of lists have little value being little more than a reflection of current-day fads. If a similar list had been made forty or fifty years ago you would probably have found such composers as Fricker, Searle, Elisabeth Lutyens, Cornelius Cardew and Sorabji on it with a few less-contentious figures like Rubbra, Bliss and Rawsthorne hanging around its nether-regions.
Maybe Helen Grime and Jonathan Dove deserve their places on Parnassus - I've never heard of them before now - but I do know that any list that includes Coleridge-Taylor and Ethel Smyth on a list of great composers that excludes Bax and Delius can't be treated with any degree of seriousness.
What might be of interest is, of the 835 votes cast, what proportion went to those composers at the top of the list compared with those at the bottom.
All this list shows is that "leading musicians" can be ignorant ones too with more than a smattering of virtue signalling thrown in for good measure.
What I forgot to include is that this list is meant to show the 25 best British composers of all time....yes, it's not a typo, "Of all time."
Here's the link:
https://www.classical-music.com/composers/best-british-composers/
"We asked 167 of today’s leading musicians to have their say, with five votes each, based on the criteria of originality, influence, technique and, of course, sheer enjoyability to listen to and perform. We then totted up the votes to draw up the following Top 25, in reverse order…(BBC Music Magazine)"
Elizabeth Maconchy
Herbert Howells
Coleridge-Taylor
Malcolm Arnold
Oliver Knussen
Helen Grime
Jonathan Dove
Judith Weir
Holst
John Dowland
George Benjamin
Ethel Smyth
Frank Bridge
Harrison Birtwistle
Tallis
James MacMillan
Handel
Thomas Ades
Tippett
Walton
William Byrd
Vaughan Williams
Purcell
Elgar
Britten
Although absolutely gobsmacked by some (actually quite a few) of the names on the list I'm even more astounded by many that have been ignored... Delius, Bax, Stanford, Parry, even Alwyn, Moeran, Holbrooke and Sullivan. Malcolm Arnold, whose music I love , surprises by his inclusion because his music is usually denigrated by those who would rate Harrison Birtwistle as a great composer.
What would be most interesting would be to know who the "Leading musicians" are who formulated such a list. "Name and shame 'em" is what I say.
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