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Hi Michael Shapiro. I agree with your article. I’m Lee McClure. As a composer I went through a similar struggle in the 70’s. When I was getting my music degree at Brooklyn College, I finally just started walking out of concerts of all atonal music. I found it so depressing. It seemed to instill in me a fear that no good music could ever be made again! But after a few beers and listening to Ravel, I’d get inspired to write music again.
“Oppression” in your essay rang a bell for me. In my essay I relate atonal music to oppression in a different way: I write: “From 1945 to 1989 almost all the new orchestral music that got performed was Atonal. . . . Curious — 1945 to 1989. Think about it. That’s the same years as the Cold War. And Atonal music was dominant on both sides of the Iron Curtain.” (from my essay: “What Happened To Modern Art? Is it the Unquestioned Answer?”)
After years of avoiding atonal music, Stanley Kubrick taught me how to listen to atonal music: In The Shining just before the cook gets slugged in the chest with and ax, Kubrick used (I think) Penderecki’s “Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima”. When I saw this I realized what atonal music is good for: horror films, it works perfectly.
Also one my main complaints about atonal music is that it’s relentless forever. I thought atonal music should be used as just one more new color in the pallet of all styles of music. In my 45 minute opera, Mother And Child, I included 3 minutes of strident atonal music as accompaniment to a diatonic vocal line. The rest of opera is all melodic and tonal.
Though I don’t like Theodor Adorno’s opinion on Jazz, he has a good comment on atonal music. (Paraphrasing) he says: There’s no reflection in Atonal music. Tonal music can reflect about horrible things, but Atonal music is totally literal. Atonal music is like an audio recording of a car crash or rantings of a schizophrenic. (Funny thing is I found a recording of an Adorno composition; it’s pretty atonal.)
In 1985 I founded the Eclectix Chamber Orchestra to present new melodic classical and jazz composers & performers. Since then we’ve presented over 130 living composers. So, I am for ALL new tonal music? Well yes and no … Minimalism. Oy veh! Yes, it’s tonal, but it suffers from the Atonal problem of relentless forever. Admittedly Philip Glass doesn’t like the term minimal; and I’m glad his music has gotten quite melodic over the years.
My favorite highly repetitive music is by Zap Mamma. They’re an “Afro Pop” group of 5 female singers (also dance and play hand percussion). They can get three different repetitive layers going and then add a soloist doing a melody on top. A good example is Piekete from their first album in 1991. I was lucky to see them twice at the Supper Club on W.47 St, NYC.
I brag about being the most melodic classical composer in 50 years. That sounds nice but the major source of new melodic music is from the pop music field. Gee, I don’t know where to start? How about the a-cappella section of Find The Cost of Freedom (CSNYoung).
It’s so refreshing to hear your opinions from back then when I thought I was the only one gagging on atonal music.
My website is: https://www.eclectixnyc.org/
Be great to hear from you. I tried to find your website, but there’s too many Michael Shapiro’s. But you’re the real deal!
Lee McClure
eclectix@earthlink.net
NYC
