Most Intelligent Music

Was the question of intellectualism in music defined by how complex the piece is? If so the word intellectualism was just not correct.

This thread is dumb.

     Did you all know a form of music started in the 1990's is known as "Intelligent
Dance Music?"  (see Wikipedia).

That's exactly the point the immortal Capablanca (God rest/bless his soul) said in My Chess Career, "prebutting" possible later criticism (which did arise in the British press) that the tone of his book was one of conceit.

Re. composers, I personally find many of the works of the following infinitely preferable to the music of Mozart:

Aaron Copland

Bedrich Smetana

Carl August Nielsen

Carl Wilhelm Eugen Stenhammar

Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns

Edvard Hagerup Grieg

Edward Benjamin Britten

Edward William Elgar

Franz Liszt

Frédéric François Chopin

Gustav Mahler 

Gustav Theodore Holst

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

Jean Sibelius

Johan Severin Svendsen

Niels Wilhelm Gade

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff

William Turner Walton

just listening to Ryuichi Sakamoto as I type this. I have never heard of him before but I think he, and this piece of music in particular, is brilliant. Thanks for the link.

The most complex music I actually listen to is progressive rock and progressive metal from bands like Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree. I also like Planet X, who mix in some jazz elements in their songs. But overall I'd have to say classical music is the most "intelligent" type. I play classical piano and I've found that nothing else really competes in terms of structure and music theory.

Re. composers, I personally find many of the works of the following infinitely preferable to the music of Mozart:

There are some good composers on your list, and I find it interesting that it includes some lesser knowns like Stenhammar, Svendsen, and Gade. There are a bunch of undeservedly obscure composers, some even less well known than those on your list. I also noticed that about the earliest composer on your list (if memory serves) was Mendelssohn. I sort of suspected this, based on the "better" comment. The later music appeals more directly to moods or emotions sometimes, making it perhapsmore approachable.

I, too, tend to like some of the later music, but while I listen to it more often than I do Mozart, it's not because Mozart was inferior in any way. Indeed, I believe he was a far better, far deeper composer than the likes of Stenhammar and Saint-Saëns. (I swear, whenever I hear The Swan, I wish I owned a shotgun!) Chopin could write for the piano, but his other stuff (including the orchestral part of the piano concertos) is not that great.

At first, Mozart may seem pleasant but superficial. It's only once you get to understand the "language" that his genius becomes fully apparent. And, he could write for anything and make it great.

It does come down to personal preferences, though, and there's nothing wrong with that. You like Copland. I do, too, to some extent, but I probably prefer Piston and Creston, and even some of the Ives symphonies. I'd rather listen to Miaskovsky and Shebalin than Prokofiev. To each his own.

I like to listen to the sound of my dog farting

I had no idea I was so lacking in my knowledge of classical music. It's ok, this is not classicalmusic.com, right?

I still think music strongly affects the brain although there is not a lot
of conclusive scientific data on the subject.

Musikamole listens to Barry Manilow performing Frank Sinatra songs while playing
chess.  I told him why not listen to the great Frank Sinatra performing
Frank Sinatra songs instead?

If you listen to ICC's chess.fm, you'll hear a lot of Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" ballet music. Somebody (Russian, probably) must think it inspiring.

I love Porcupine Tree. They're the best band around for my money.

I think the real question of interest would be whether music, chess, and math, the three "universal" (i.e. preliterate) languages help small children develop higher I.Q.'s. I would argue definitely yes, especially if they are handed small Suzuki violins and taught to play them, and taught to play chess, and encouraged to do mathematical puzzles, all before they start school. Learning to read at an early age helps too, of course.

Mozart was an acknowledged genius in his own time but he didn't break with any classical music strictures as Beethoven did; he developed intrumental and human voices (as did his hero, Bach) in ways that still stir us. (I've played viola in his "Requiem" several tmes and it's always hard to keep from breaking down when we come to the "Lachryomosa" movement he died before completing.)

Music is more ancient than language, I believe. A bone flute was recently found in a cave in Germany, dating from 45,000 B.C.

jazz........... (not saying  this is the most intelligent music, but great while playing chess)

p.s. I'm a fan of Pink Floyd :) they're great!

Scarblac,

Yes, Country And Western isn't nearly as intelligent as Lady Gaga and all these
other forms of "genius" brands of "music" I hear on the radio today.