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I do not do the idiotic quizzes “who is the best” and who would be the top 5 or 10 in some bogus lists but a few days ago I did asked myself who is  among 20 century composers I feel was the most interesting and the most appreciated by me. While I was digging in my sensations I was more and more surprised with myself and with the rational that I was coming up.

I am a big Rachmaninoff devotee but I have to admit that I would have difficulties to name Rachmaninoff as the most interesting 20 century composer. Rachmaninoff in my mind a more like end of 19 century-type of music and whatever he composed later on in his life I am not a huge fan on. Also, Rachmaninoff is kind of isolated in his pianistic geniuses….

Edward Elgar, Sergei Prokofiev and Bela Bartok were wonderful but I do not particularly feel that they are at the necessary scale of magnitude

Igor Stravinsky probably was the most influential but I do not fell him to be too interesting for me. Although he composed a lot of works that I appreciate but he move to symphonic simplisticizm did not make me happy…

Dmitri Shostakovich might be a runner but I do not like a lot of his music and the most important I do not like him. Something prevents me to nominate Shostakovich as the most “interesting” 20 century composer. Unquestionably he was interesting but that interest has some sick subtext that I do not appreciate.

Then Richard Strauss. I found him extremely noble contestant and it would be it for me but then suddenly I came up with absolutely unexpected for myself name - Giacomo Puccini. Can anybody beat Puccini in his pure musical geniuses?

Sure, Puccini is not as complex and “serious” as some other composer but in his music there is that very native, very not-adulterated, almost physiological beautify that were available only for pure “natural” composers - something that Mozart had in 18 century and Mussorgsky in 19 century.  I feel that Puccini, not Richard Strauss composed the most “interesting” music of 20 century….

Sure there is no need for building any artificial musical hierarchy but still it was a big surprise for me when I realized how high Puccini should be in the scale of t”he most interesting composers of 20 century”.

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