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From: tss@astrovax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Twentieth Century Classical Music Primer
Message-ID: <215@astrovax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 7-Feb-84 13:28:17 EST
Article-I.D.: astrovax.215
Posted: Tue Feb  7 13:28:17 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 9-Feb-84 22:23:05 EST
Organization: Princeton Univ. Astrophysics
Lines: 32


Congratulations to Oscar on his excellent article. I have a few additions
and comments...

Stravinsky: is best known for the three great ballets, "The Rite of Spring",
   "Petrushka", and "Firebird", but these represent only 5 years very early
   in his career. The amazing thing about Stravinsky is not that he was so
   influential with these works, but that he managed to remain influential
   for another 50 years. During this time, he tried his hand at virtually
   every new technique to emerge, and in fact became one of the leaders of
   the neoclassical movement of the '30s. So after you've grown accustomed
   to "Rite of Spring", try the Symphony in C and "Apollon Musagette".
   Can you convince yourself that they were all written by the same person?
   And if you're feeling adventurous, have a listen to the "Ebony Concerto";
   it's what happened when Stravinsky tried to write jazz.

Bartok: The 'much else worth investigating' that Oscar mentioned includes
   six String Quartets (of which the 5th is my favorite), the "Music for
   Strings, Percussion, and Celesta", and probably his best work, the
   Concerto for Orchestra. On my list the latter ranks as one of the top
   three works of the 20th c.

Hindemith: got only a passing mention in Oscar's article. I've never heard
   a piece by Hindemith that I didn't like, so it's tough to pick the best
   of the lot, but the first one I fell in love with was the Symphony
   "Mathis de Maler", extracted from the opera of the same name. If you
   want to hear some truly amazing counterpoint, try the Symphony in Bb for
   Concert Band. (This is one of the most difficult, complex, and exciting
   pieces in the band literature, and proves that you don't need strings
   to make good music.)

More to come....