And that's why I used quotations

I agree completely that most of it is "Shit noise."

However.... I also use that term for a lot of Schoenberg's works as well...

I also use it for a lot of Mahler's works too...

I'm now expecting at least a few people to jump down my throat...

Pianolady wrote:



Well,back in France, I was required to play each year two modern pieces. The "Handgelobnis" was one of them and it was actually the last modern piece I played before moving to the USA.
To be honest,I,myself didn't quite like modern music.
But then in 2001,when I joined the student body at the University of Kansas, I began to look for a repertoire not often played that would get me noticed. And I also became member of the University of Kansas Wind Symphony. Being a member of the Wind Symphony made me discover great composers such as Maslanka,Mackey,Colgrass,Pann and others.
And when I met Carter Pann in 2001/2002, that turned things for me and I really began enjoying his music and decided to give priority to modern music.
The above is quite simplistic,but I think explains enough,lol
Now,this said,I refuse to play Boulez,Stockhausen or any of the serial/atonal guys .I like melodies,I like clear writing.
All the modern composers I play have that in their music.
For an example of modern repertoire recital,check the program for my upcoming recital at http://pianosociety.com/new/phpBB2/view ... 8012#18012

Funny you say that. I saw Pollini play something by Boulez recently and I didn't like it, either. It dragged on for about twenty minutes - I couldn't wait for it to be over. I suppose if I could find a melody in some 'modern' music, I could maybe get into it. Hasn't happened yet, though. However, I just listened to Schoenberg for the first time yesterday and liked some of one of the movements. That's big for me.

Oh good grief.

I love how 'contemporary' music is considered. That term is so outdated it's ridiculous.

How many of these 'contemporary' composers mentioned are even alive today? How many were born in the 19th Century? I noticed that some people mentioned Reich, Glass, and Adams. Not bad, we're starting to get somewhere.

Now, I am of course biased as I'm working on a dissertation that concerns post-minimalist music, basically nothing written before 1980, but this term 'contemporary' really gets on my nerves.

It isn't exactly our fault either. I'm in a theory class that is actually called 'contemporary' music, but it only covers Schoenberg and Stravinsky. Huh. That's weird... If you want to see what's going on in music now, you've really got to do a lot of leg work yourself, which is really a tragedy.

Thoughts?

What would you call it, then? Some fancy post-this, post-that, or neo-something? It's no secret here that I don't like whatever-you-call-it music, but the word 'contemporary' at least tells me that it is not baroque, classical, or romantic.

And by the way, you should introduce yourself to us before you post a bunch or recordings. There is not even a simple 'hi' on your posts. A bit rude, really, and scores no points with me.

Apologies for the lack of introduction. I posted some about myself in the Audition Forum.

All I was saying is that the term contemporary is a misnomer since a lot of the music being discussed was written many decades ago. Labeling music since the turn of the 20th Century, is rather difficult since composers really began to branch out in a lot of different directions simultaneously. In teaching this music, classes I've seen typically label it all as 20th Century music, and divide as pre- and post-WWII. I just wanted to get people thinking about the term and its connotations.

My other point was how hard it is to get a hold of or learn about really recent art music. I had to go to the composers themselves in most cases for my research, as many of these pieces would be held by only one library (university or otherwise) in the US. I think that says a lot about how we as performers view music vs. those around 1900.

Personally, I get excited thinking that I could (in a very small way) help shape what music enters the standard repertoire in the coming years. By performing and teaching new music, I see myself as part of a larger dialogue, and I personally think that's pretty cool.

I forgive you.

I think it's great to be excited about a certain kind of music. When I discover music (that I like) by a composer I didn't really know much about, I like to learn about the person and play as much of their music that I can get my hands on. So good luck in your endeavor.

I'll listen to some of your recordings soon.

I think it's all still called "contemporary" because it hasn't really caught on yet.

You know, Terez. In a way, you are right. I wonder what people called music back in the ealier eras.

For instance, Chopin and his contemporaries (LOL) - they didn't say that they were composing in the "Romantic" era did they? Did they know what era they were in? Or Beethoven - did he know that he was composing music that is categorized as "Classical" era? I really have no idea about this, but if this is so, then they might have called themselves "Contemporary" composers too. And the general public considered their music as being contemporary. The only difference to me is that I love most of their music and not today's contemporary music.

I get what I'm saying but probably not explaining it well. Any of that make sense?

I think the term "Romantic" was already in use by Chopin's time, though he didn't think it applied to him. He saw himself as being separate from the "romantic" style of composing, and in many ways, he was. The term "classical" wasn't used in reference to that era until the 19th century, though, and the term "baroque", being a fairly derogatory term, was definitely not used until the classical style was gaining ground. Monteverdi (early baroque) called his style "seconda prattica" as opposed to the "prima prattica" of Palestrina et al., but other than that I don't know much.

I don't think it is that hard at all to get hold of new music scores.Just need to know people,have contacts.

By the way,how is Weirich doing?I studied with him for one year.

All the composers I refer to are alive and still composing.
Mackey is based in New York(last I checked),Bolcom and Daugherty are faculty at U. Michigan,Pann is faculty at U. of Colorado-Boulder, Meyn is faculty at Texas Christian, Murnak(who is writing a piece for me) is faculty at U. Florida

Hi! Do anybody have some piano sheets of pieces by Mauricio Kagel or Dieter Schnebel. It would be very appreciated

or pieces including piano by alfred schnittke...please