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what is modern music?

4K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  SuperTonic 
#1 ·
I am curious about finding out more about the more modern classical music (the music that was in the 20th century and now)........for example, conlon nancarrow, Ernst krenek, Xenakis, Pierre Boulez, Cage......

What i was wondering about is if musical patterns play an fundamental role in much of modern music.......if that is what characterize modern music.....its form.......if the thing about modern music is to build patterns.......it's musical tapestries.....

So much of the modern music is like logical puzzles, and the main satisfaction of listening to modern music is finding these patterns..........Is this view correct? anybody know?

An example of a pattern (and a logical puzzle) is: 3 - 7 - 15 - 31 - 63 - 127

Do you find the pattern(s) in this row of numbers? I am wondering if the enjoyment of classical music is akin to such a logical puzzle..and solving such a puzzle, or perceiving the pattern musically......of course, in music you will use the musical characteristics to build patterns.......you know, rythm, harmony, contrapunct.......

I guess discovering musical form and patterns in Mozart/Bach/tchaikovsky (and the likes of these composers) also play a role.......but am i right in saying that the patterns has begotten an dominering role in modern music.......one has sacrified the more immediate listenability for patterns.........( i say immediate listenability, because i guess maybe that a modern composition becomes more listenable once you perceive its patterns.....) ????

Is this view of what modern classical is all about (much of modern classical, anyways) correct?

Thanks for any reply, i want to understand modern music!
 
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#3 ·
I also want to understand modern music, but I still haven't researched enough. Some modern works I like, though - Carmina Burana is one of them (and not just O Fortuna, but whole work), Rite Of Spring is also one of my favorites (though these are not very contemporary anymore), I have listened to some piano works of Philip Glass, too, this is also quite listenable.
I even like one piece of Schoenberg - Survivor From Warsaw - it's very powerful, emotional and even scary. I want to listen to more Schoenberg because people usually hate him, so I want to discover is he really that "bad". I am planing to listen to his earlier works such as Verklarte Nacht first (haven't yet done it), then I may progress to something newer.
 
#6 ·
Yeah, i like very much "rite of spring" by Stravinsky......there was a period many years ago when i constantly listened to it.......listening to it gets you a very immediate satisfation.......

I like it that you want to listen more to Schoenberg because so many hate him, thats good!
 
#4 ·
So much of the modern music is like logical puzzles, and the main satisfaction of listening to modern music is finding these patterns..........Is this view correct? anybody know?
I enjoy listening to quite a lot of "modern music" and I don't listen to them as "logical puzzles." :confused:
 
#11 ·
that is a good point whistlerguy.....i know what you mean.......i have'nt really analysed much of compositions.......for the most part my own.....or the results of my improvisations, for the most part, i guess.........

but i had an experience where i watched a movie some years ago, and i got relatively obsessed with it and analysed it to pieces........and some of the magical feeling of seeing the movie disappeared and has never returned i guess.......it's still good but some of the magic is gone...........it has never been as good again as the first times i watched it...........
 
#20 ·
I studied it in college. It is pretty complicated, and I can't say that I fully understand all of it. The book "The Structure of Atonal Music" by Allen Forte is the seminal work on the subject.
http://www.amazon.com/Structure-Atonal-Music-Allen-Forte/dp/0300021208/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278718931&sr=8-1

However, if you are looking for a more casual introduction, I would recommend John Rahn's Basic Atonal Theory.
http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Atonal-Theory-John-Rahn/dp/0028731603/ref=sr_1_24?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1278719201&sr=1-24
 
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