An observation about "Modern" classical music.

John...My initial posting describes how it evolved from a listening session. Without going into all the details..."If I can't hum it I don't like it". This phrase may sound simplistic, but it concisely states the opinion of most (not all) people.

"If I can't hum it, I don't like it." All I can say is that I'm incredibly grateful that this is not the case for me.

"Atonal" has been used by Bach and all the rest. It's not a new discovery. In fact, jazz music can't live without it.

Check out some of Beethoven's late Quartets. They get very atonal to the point where he almost goes past any sense of tonality.

I have been playing devil's advocate to see if I could get some idea of what the appeal to modern classical music. Fortunately, there were answers to my post that gave me hope. Thanks to the posters!

I am like Eldarford in that I like a hybrid of both. I like comfort and discomfort (in music - in life it would be nice to just have comfort but oh well). I think some of the "Atonal" composers were experimenting and breaking new ground. But now I think we are past the "break every rule you can to the most extreme extent" and evolving into something that has freshness and something that we can relate to. I am giving it a listen, and so far I'm impressed.

That being said, I don't think we'll ever match the "golden age" of classical music. They used up most of the most innate motifs IMHO.

Robm321...You are absolutely correct about Beethoven's late chamber music. At the time he was deaf.

lol eldartford - how can I argue with that. The more he lost his hearing the more atonal his music became. Go figure.

I have to say that I just finished listening to Arvo Part - Fratres for violin and piano and it is a very moving peice of music - not objectionable sounding at all.