Sylvia Wolfe:

>My husband, noting the lack of "modern" classical music in my collection,
>gave me a recording of Pierre Boulez' "Trois Sonates pour Piano" as played
>by Claude Helffer.  I can hardly stand to listen to this stuff.  Is there
>anybody out there who really likes serial music, and if so, can you put
>your finger on what it is that appeals? Just curious.

I like serial music.  I even like music by Boulez.  I don't particularly
like the piano sonatas.  In fact, my reaction is the same as yours:  I can
hardly stand to listen to them.  Not all 12-tone works sound like them,
because not all 12-tone works sound the same.  I'd recommend the following
eclectic list:

Dallapiccola: Piccola musica notturna; Canti di prigionia
Schoenberg: Piano Concerto; De profundis; Dreimal tausand Jahre
Stravinsky: Agon; Introitus; Requiem Canticles; Threni
Copland: Piano Quartet; Inscapes; Music for a Great City
Ginastera: Piano Concerto No. 1
Webern: Variations for Orchestra
Thomson: A Solemn Music
Bernstein: Symphony No. 3 (1st movement); Dybbuk
Sessions: Symphony No. 7
Boulez: Le soleil des eaux; Le visage nuptial; Le marteau sans maitre
Krenek: Lamentatio Ieremiae

Furthermore, there are serial numbers in a lot of works you probably enjoy
- most notably, West Side Story.  I'm willing to bet most people don't even
think about whether these numbers are serial or not.  They just accept them
as music like any other.

This setting off of serial music as something apart from Music - even
though begun by its advocates - has done more harm to the acceptance of
this music and has led to more half-baked notions about what Real Music
is than people who simply hated it.

Steve Schwartz