Evening star., 1955-04-03
BY DAY THORPE

Agony of Modern Music" that
: music for the past SO years
has been. either a fraud or a
phantom. being neither mod
ern nor even music. has elic-
tied a number of letters on the
subject.
The sober interest in the
question and the serious self
analysis of several of the writ
ers who found that their affec-
tions lay either solely with
classical music or with that
being produced today is evi-
dence that Mr.. Peasants.
while he may have treated his
subject in a somewhat offhand
and cavalier manner. yet was
not talking about something
that was Of no general con-
Germ.
Most of the writer's asked
the question. an answer to
which was so gingerly set aside
In the column-"What is good
music? What criterion is there
to discover it?" Several found
the old and the new distin-
guished by being on the one
hand intellectual" and on
the other emotional" and it
was interesting to see that
while the first would belittle
modern music as being pri-
marily an intellectual exercise
the next would decry the
thoroughly emotional reac-
tions" that it engenders.
Two Ideas Of Modern
While there seemed to be
little doubt about what in gem
eral was the field Of classical"
music, writer's speaking OF
modern music invariably had
in mind either the popular
ballad and jazz or modern
longhair music, of which the
compositions of Stravinsky,
Hindemith and Schoenberg
are examples. Modern music
never included both categories
the writer's seemed oblivious
to one or the other.
The distinction between in
tellectual and emotional music
is one that I myself can in no
way comprehend, except per-
haps in the most exaggerated
examples. Furthermore, to
say that a performer has good
technique but that something
beyond technique is lacking, is
to me nonsense-nonsen of
which I am occasionally guilty.
With the greatest diffdence I
suggest the basic reason why
music is enjoyable to those
who enjoy it-that they un-
consciously break down what
they hear into the smallest
possible units and correlate
these particles of melody, har-
nony and rhythm to what
they already know by expert
ence.
Borriers InvoIid
The appeal of all music, new
or old, familiar or unfamiliar,
Is the same, and thus it seems
that the adjectives "intellec-
tual" or emotional have no
valid meaning.
Is there not a strong emo
tional appeal in the considera-
tion of the geometrician's
circle or triangle or in a WE'LL
contrived position in chess?
On the other hand is there
not also a strong intellectual
appeal in an erotic poem of
Herrick?
There is an emotional stim-
illus in the most intricate
canon of Bach or Byrd, or, in
certain circumstances. in an
unadorned major scale: yet
each from one point of view
can be called an intellectual
exercise. ...-..
If my reason why music is
enjoyable is otherwise sound,
1t nevertheless breaks down
under the obvious argument
that. while it is true that we
are irritated by music that is
foreign to what we are used
to. or that is so intricate that
we are frustrated in our at
tempt at synthesis, it is also
true that we dislike intensely
some music that is both famil-
lar and comprehensive. The
enigmatic power of music is
attested by the fact that a
man who experiences intense
pleasure in hearing the sonata,
Opus 1G9. of Beethoven. may
experience intense displeasure,
amounting sometimes to anger,
in hearing Isolde's Liebestod
OF Wagner. Yet both pieces
are familiar and comprehen-
sible, and our man may notice
that each isolated character
istic of the Wagner he can find
in some other piece he enjoys.
This is a mystery, and may
indicate that there is more to
music than technique.
A Matter Of Preparation
It is probably true that most
of those whose taste is not for
the most mechanical produc-
tions of the Hit Parade prefer
music of former times to that
being written today. With
books it is different. The con-
temporary book is the active
force, while the classic is more
likely to remain on the shelf,
but unread. The an
swer to this anomaly is per-
haps that every individual
with a book in his hand has at
least the preparation of learn
Ing to read, while many of us,
seduced by that ridiculous
stupidity that music is the uni
versal language. expect a SYM
phony to meet us not half way
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