[colomon]

In my mind the interesting/curious transition is from music that "anybody" can play to music that requires the very very best players in the world. (I mean seriously, if the Kronos Quartet can't handle playing your string quartet...)

I mean, I'm a fair amateur bassoon and piano player. I've played bassoon on four Beethoven symphonies over the years, and technically they were easily within my grasp. His piano sonatas push me, but back when I was actively playing piano I could make them sound like music.

I've played some more modern music which was much harder, and while I quite like some of it, I sure don't think it was "better" than Beethoven.

I think the exact same thing has happened to jazz, too, it's just a few decades behind "classical" music in the transition...

[Tycho]

I suppose in the recording and mass-distribution age, it makes sense to maximise for player ability (assuming it's worthwhile) if you only need one performance to make the piece immortal.