hrs@houxb.UUCP (H.SILBIGER) (05/31/84)
Bob Fishell's remark comparing Berg's music to breaking light bulbs rather than lyric(al) violin shown his total lack of acquintance with Berg's music. Berg's violin concertoisvery lyrical, and Wozzeck and Lulu, his opera's are powerfully romantic works. There is large variety of modern music, not all of which is completely a-traitional. Modern music should not be composed in the idiom of past centuries. None of the other art forms are, we don't all live in gothic or colonial buildings, nor do painters paint in renaissance style. People are not exposed to enough modern (or contemporary) music to become acquainted with it enough to make judgments whether it is good or bad. Similarly, very few people understand the emotional impact of J.S. Bach's works on first hearing. If you want to restrict your musical environment, continue not to listen to modern music. If you want to widen your horizons, listen to a variety of modern music until the language becomes familiar. Then it will cease to seem "modern", and it will just be another variety of music. Herman Silbiger CGE
wjm@whuxj.UUCP (MITCHELL) (05/31/84)
<munch, munch, munch, CHOMP> To Bruce Parker: The point of my article is that I have given "Connotations" and other modern works, especially Cage, Schoenberg, and Stravinsky more than a fair hearing. I have, Mr. Parker, tried to find the elements I like in earlier Copland works (sorry about the spelling errors), but unfortunately they are not there. I do not find the melodic themes, especially those that represent "geographic" motifs (e.g. El Salon Mexico) in this work or in other "modern" works. To Greg Taylor: In general I LIKE most modern art (and hope to soon visit the newly enlarged Museum of Modern Art in NYC which just reopened on 17 May). As for theater, my tastes tend to be fairly broad - ranging from Shakespeare to some very contemporary works (both dramatic and musical - I'm still waiting to get tickets for 'Cats' at a reasonable price). I would say the same for literature, although most of my non-professional reading is non-fiction. Although I tend to prefer Early American furniture, I have seen some very tastefully decorated modern rooms, especially those using Scandanavian motifs and there is some modern architecture I like. I would say that modern "serious" music is the one area of late twentieth centure culture that totally alienates me. Sure one expects to hear new sounds, but it is reasonable to expect those sounds to fit into a cultural milleu which many modern pieces do not. Granted, the composer has the right to go outside this framework, but when he/she does, he/she loses the implicit expectation that the classical music-loving public is going to appreciate the work. I am willing to give any piece of music (acid rock is not music for the purposes of this definition, neither is the sound of BMT trains going around curves, and I'm not counting noise here) a serious hearing. However, in return, I expect the composer to provide a work with some themes that I can relate to. This is what Messrs. Schoenberg, Cage, Berg, and Copland have failed to do. Comments welcome but send flames to /dev/null Bill Mitchell (whuxj!wjm)
wjm@whuxj.UUCP (MITCHELL) (06/04/84)
<munch, munch, munch, CHOMP> Some thoughts on the recent articles about modern music (and some replies to myy comments). First, the discussion is great ... proving that those of us who wanted net.music .classical read the tea leaves properly in estimating the need for this newsgroup... Second, I'm not going to say that the 12-tone and other modern schemes are *BAD*, whatever that means (I'm not sure how one would make the objective judgement that that implies), I AM going to say that after several attempts to listen to it with an open mind that I don't like it, and will, as much as possible vote with my ticket-buying wallet against it. Third, I agree that most music of ANY age was mediocre, and that the great are what have survived from earlier ages - although frankly I happen to like Beethoven's early symphonies - especially No. 4, which I feel are neglected in favor of the BIG odd numbered ones (3,5,7 & 9). The only even Beethoven symphony that receives much hearing is the Pastorial (which is also one of my favorites). Fourth, I suspect the socio-economic support of composers has encouraged many modern composers (especially Schoenberg, Berg, and Cage) to create music with minimal regard for public or patron support. Perhaps we should return to the patron system of old, with corporate bodies being the patrons, certainly this is more to my liking than using government funds to support artists. Regards, Bill Mitchell (whuxj!wjm)