The first shock on seeing the list of most performed new music of the 21st century is the absence of contemporary superstars. No work of John Adams appears in the top ten and only one in the top 20. Adams has the biggest public profile and publishing contract of any living composer, but his new work is clearly not being performed as much as we thought. Now why is that?

Also missing are such big beasts as Steve Reich, Michael Nyman, Krzystof Penderecki,  Peter Sculthorpe, Henri Dutilleux, Wolfgang Rihm, Beat Furrer and Olga Neuwirth. Could it be that their media presence is greater than their audience penetration?

The list is subject to a number of potential distortions. It excludes performances for which no fees are paid to publishers and composers and it is heavily weighted towards works that are toured by orchestras and, particularly, by dance companies – which accounts for Joby Talbot’s extraordinarily high ranking. New works by Gavin Bryars and Julian Anderson are going to receive similar exposure. One conclusion that emerges from this process is that modern dance may be having a greater impact on modern music than at any time since Diaghilev. Discuss, at your leisure.

The early results suggested a predominance of Classic-FM-style works – relax, relax and forget that it’s music you’re listening to – especially works with a synthetic spiritual dimension, hence the prevalence of requiems. But the list as a whole does not bear out this tendency. Nor does it suggest that minimalist repetition has much longer to run.

There is a surge of real invention to be found in many of the top performers, along with a return to the most productive of musical dialogues, between single instrument and full orchestra. The concerto is bouncing back.

With reports in from all the major publishers, here, in descending order, is a list of the most performed new music of the 21st century. I shall offer some analysis in a further post, but the list – as you can see – contains several surprises and it will reorder our priorities as to which composer is making the most waves in the present epoch.

Here is the second tranch of the top twenty:

20 Philip Glass, In the Penal Colony (2000) – 65 performances

19 Kaija Saariaho’s 2000 opera L’Amour de loin – 66

18 Magnus Lindberg Gran Duo (2000) for woodwind and brass, 67.

17 Elliott Carter: Dialogues (2003) for piano and large ensemble, 70.

16 John Corigliano, Red Violin concerto (2003), 71

15 John Adams: The Dharma at Big Sur (2003) for electric violin and orchestra, 72.

14 Jörg Widmann, Hunt Quartet (2003), 74

13 Oliver Knussen violin concerto (2002) 79.

12 Detlev Glanert’s opera, The Three Riddles (2003) 80

11 George Benjamin Dance Figures for Orchestra (2004), 82

Ready now? Here comes the top ten.

10 Detlev Glanert opera Jest, Satire, Irony and Deeper Meaning (2000) 83

9 Philip Glass, Concerto Fantasy (87)

8 Colin Matthews Pluto (2000), 87

7 Christopher Rouse Rapture (2000) 97

6 Howard Goodall’s Requiem (2008) 102.

5 Nathaniel Stookey, The Composer is Dead (2006), 104

4 Joby Talbot Entity (2008), 110

3 Tan Dun, Crouching Tiger concerto (2000) 139

2 Joan Tower, Made in America (2008), 145

1 Karl Jenkins Requiem (2004) 311

On national grounds alone the results are astonishing. The top ten contains five US citizens (one Chinese born), four British composers and one German. What does that say about the people who are commissioning new music?

The second eleven adds two Finns and a German to the mix, but without changing the general pattern. Italy and France, two of the great sources off western music, are absent. Russia, once the great white hope, is muted.

It may be that composers in those countries are not being properly promoted – and the numbers here are only from the major commercial publishers – and it could bee that some of them are being performed and not properly reported. If that is the case, I will be glad to hear of any discrepancies. However, it does not change the general picture that the mainstream of contemporary music is now dominated by American and British composers – and not necessarily the obvious ones. But of that, more in the next post.