I find Messiaen to be a really interesting case.  He can be alternately
hyper-emotional (e.g., parts of Turangalila) and very cold and precise
(e.g., parts of Turangalila).  I usually have little patience for emotional
outpourings in music, being of Stravinskian temperament in that respect,
but for some reason Messiaen's over-the-top-ness (sample performance
direction: "avec un grand joie") works for me.

Berg is another fine example of a composer whose work is simultaneously
incredibly emotionally expressive (three adverbs in a row, how's that!)
and very rigidly controlled.

Dan Schmidt -> [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]