greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) (02/03/84)
I also have trouble with a lot of 20th Century music. Much of it I find arid, incoherent, and unpleasant to the ear. To make it even more confusing, certain composers who have written the (to me) best works have also written the worst. Virgil Thomson wrote several pieces I find uninteresting. He also wrote two marvelous operas, "Four Saints In Three Acts" and "The Mother of Us All" (the Susan B. Anthony story) to texts by Gertrude Stein. The "Four Saints" is available on a good performance on Nonesuch. In his later career, Stravinsky's work seemed to aim at ugliness. However, his opera "The Rakes Progress" I find delightful, both musically and as a stage work. In 20th Century opera, more concentration seems to have been placed on the quality of the text. Furthermore, more operas choose texts which carry a moral. As I see them, they tend to fall into three categories (1) Those that add nothing musically of value and coast along on the power of the dramatic situation. I can already see the flames coming, but this is how I view all of Menotti's and Barber's work. (2) Those which effectively support the text, but don't really extend its expressiveness in a considerable way. Much as I like it, I feel Britten's "Peter Grimes" belongs in this category (except for the wonderful "Sea Interludes"). (3) Those in which the music uses the text as a springboard from which they expand and amplify its inherent qualities. Britten's "Albert Herring" and "Midsummer Night's Dream" seem to me to represent this. Bear in mind that in the 20th century, as before, even composers of genius find themselves forced by financial and ultimate career concerns into deadlines for commissions which require them to "put in time" even when they have no particular inspiration. - Greg Paley