This post lacks knowledge about western contemporary music (that's how "classical" music is kind of called nowadays). A brief list of innovative composers on par with Beethoven: Debussy, Ravel, Shostakovich, Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Bartok, Varese, Messiaen, Ligeti, Berio, Boulez, Nono, Stockhausen, Steve Reich, John Cage, Penderecki, Ginastera, Villa-Lobos, Xenakis, Saariaho, John Adams, Elliot Carter, Manoury, Grisey, Murail, Haas, Kurtag, Davidovsky, Sciarrino, Alexander Schubert, Steen-Andersen, Ablinger, Oliveira, Mary, Kokoras... and of course there are a lot more.
A fun way to keep up on new composers is watching the ScoreFollower youtube channel videos. You can also look for composition contests and check out the winners and jury for names. Or... just google for contemporary music, read books about it or about music history, or even look for musicology research (the scientific study of music). Hope this helps.
This post lacks knowledge about western contemporary music (that's how "classical" music is kind of called nowadays). A brief list of innovative composers on par with Beethoven:
Debussy, Ravel, Shostakovich, Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Bartok, Varese, Messiaen, Ligeti, Berio, Boulez, Nono, Stockhausen, Steve Reich, John Cage, Penderecki, Ginastera, Villa-Lobos, Xenakis, Saariaho, John Adams, Elliot Carter, Manoury, Grisey, Murail, Haas, Kurtag, Davidovsky, Sciarrino, Alexander Schubert, Steen-Andersen, Ablinger, Oliveira, Mary, Kokoras... and of course there are a lot more.
A fun way to keep up on new composers is watching the ScoreFollower youtube channel videos. You can also look for composition contests and check out the winners and jury for names. Or... just google for contemporary music, read books about it or about music history, or even look for musicology research (the scientific study of music). Hope this helps.