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by dahart
1431 days ago
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My stepfather is a composer who follows in the path of Ives, one of Carter’s influences. Have been to quite a few concerts by many composers and musicians emulating Ives and Carter and others. As an amateur jazz & classical musician myself, I can understand some of the ideas my stepfather talks about, in the sense of academic concepts. The music in general doesn’t grab me or move me other than in fleeting moments perhaps, the lack of (to me) discernible patterns leaves me feeling like I have nothing to grab onto. I’d love to hear how you (or anyone) enjoy this music, what about it inspires you, what you like about it, does it evoke emotions, how is it similar or different from more mainstream music, etc. For a long time the question in my head has been, am I not enjoying this music because I don’t understand it, or am I just a person who enjoys only certain kinds of music. |
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I can’t say I do enjoy that music, to be honest. When I was in my late teens and early twenties—as I said, around forty-five years ago—I was attracted by the notion that some 20th century classical composers were breaking new ground, throwing off old-fashioned constraints, being revolutionary, etc. I had studied traditional music theory and learned to play Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, etc. on the piano, and those more recent composers’ formal experimentations seemed exciting. My youthful rebellious infatuation with their music didn’t last long, and ever since I have listened to more conventional tonal music—not only Western classical but also rock, folk, jazz, reggae, etc.
I did get a bit more out of Elliott Carter when I was young, though, than I did out of other avant garde composers. Amid all the disorder there was something trippy and emotive about his music. These days, for a similar effect, I listen to Bach fugues, which have been mentioned by other commenters here. If anyone is interested, here’s an arrangement of the Art of Fugue that I listened to for the first time the other day and really liked:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lRi9N_I7iJUGXi...
As of this writing, the musicians’ channel has all of 14 subscribers, including (just now) me.