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[pies]

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[omar_roy]

That person is daft, obviously.  Modern music is hard to like.  I certainly don't like it, but that doesn't make it bad.  It just makes it something I don't particularly care for.  Listening to that piece, it's clear that it certainly has fairly obvious melodic lines, though not in the traditional sense of "melodiousness" if that means anything.

That said, I have tried time and time again to like modern music, but it's just not my cup of tea.  I'd much rather listen to a big gushing melody from Rachmaninoff, but many can find the same satisfaction listening to the dissonance in modern music, and that's just fine.

Strictly speaking, dissonance simply means a clashing of sounds, or a lack of resolution between those sounds.  Dissonance isn't bad by any means, it's just dissonance.  Some people, like myself, can't find satisfaction in listening to that controlled type of chaos.

The same goes for art.  I am by no means a connoisseur, but I do know more than the average bear having taken a few courses in high school and college on Art History and such, but I just cannot appreciate stuff like Jackson Pollock's work.  It looks like he took assorted drugs, drank a bunch of booze, and then got in a fight with his paintbrush and a canvas.

Maybe i'm just daft.

[thalbergmad]

I fail to see how this can be called modern as it appears it was written in 1924. I can listen to music like this and appreciate it, whilst a couple of years ago I could not.

Far better to my ears than the pile of compost created by the talentless tossers of the new complexity garbage movement.

Thal

[pianist1976]

Youtube comment:
"Is it supposed to sound like a child banging on a piano?"

95% of the comments found in Youtube are better to be ignored 

[thalbergmad]

95% of the comments found in Youtube are better to be ignored 

At least.

[pianowolfi]

A really great, very expressive piece!

[scottmcc]

while I certainly don't care for the piece of music played, it doesn't sound like a child banging at a piano, it's much more purposeful. 

there was an article in the onion about youtube comments a while ago, with a headline that was something like "idiot to post comment on youtube," and describing the ensuing process in great detail.  hilarity.

anyway, it once again illustrates the problem of accessibility in "modern" music.  if a piece of music is hard to like, what's to make someone try?  there's oodles of accessible (and great) music out there, far more than any man could listen to in his lifetime, so what's to make someone try to like a seemingly unpleasant work?  I've tried this exercise myself, and have literally forced myself to sit through a work several times, until it even becomes enjoyable on some level, even if only by familiarity.  but inevitably, just as I'm getting to that point, I break out and listen something epically good, like the Waldstein, and I realize how much better it is than whatever unfamiliar work in question.  anyway, I'd like to hear others' thoughts on this matter.

[nystul]

anyway, it once again illustrates the problem of accessibility in "modern" music.  if a piece of music is hard to like, what's to make someone try?  there's oodles of accessible (and great) music out there, far more than any man could listen to in his lifetime, so what's to make someone try to like a seemingly unpleasant work?  I've tried this exercise myself, and have literally forced myself to sit through a work several times, until it even becomes enjoyable on some level, even if only by familiarity.  but inevitably, just as I'm getting to that point, I break out and listen something epically good, like the Waldstein, and I realize how much better it is than whatever unfamiliar work in question.  anyway, I'd like to hear others' thoughts on this matter.

To my great surprise, I enjoyed the piece linked quite a bit.  It is relentlessly dissonant, but the interpretation and performance worked within that context to bring forth something I was able to connect with emotionally.  Of course, without any resolution, I feel that you are limiting somewhat the pallet of emotions available.  Whether it is natural harmonic law or a result of years of immersion in western music, tonality and consonance have a very strong emotional connection.

But at any rate, I agree with your sentiment also.  Life is just too short to waste on a bunch of music you don't have an emotional connection with.  It is great to try to expand your boundaries, but you cannot force yourself to like something just because some famous guy wrote or performed it.  Sometimes you can learn to appreciate something, but learning to love it is another matter.  Many times I go to a jazz festival and it seems like some of the musicians are more interested in entertaining themselves than the audience.  Music is not about how clever your composition can be analytically or how fast you can play a bebop scale.  Great music should be infused in emotion and enjoyable at face value to just about anyone.

[djealnla]

Youtube comment:
"Is it supposed to sound like a child banging on a piano?"

I thought this was pretty tame early modern stuff, but apparently it's not.

GO!

I could understand if the opening of the piece seemed a bit "out there" to that YouTube guy, but the rest of it is quite accessible (there's plenty Jazz out there which is harder to enjoy, I think), and even a brief glance at the score shows that the piece has contrasting sections as well as several easily recognizable melodic and rhythmic ideas. It really makes me wonder what some people listen for in music...