John Smyth wrote:

>Why is it necessary for the tonal/atonal* argument to go so far past
>the simple issue of personal like and dislike, almost becoming a
>quasi-moral issue of which one must permanently take a side?

I suppose that in a perfect world, each side would be respectful of the
other and they would live in harmony.  But, humans haven't evolved to the
point where this can happen.  A somewhat similar condition exists between
the modern and period instrument camps.  Even on this list, we have atonal
loving members who show the height of disdain for those who do not delve
into that music.  Conversely, some of the 100% tonalists on the list seem
to think that folks on the other side either do not really like atonal
music or have some genetic problems.  This is all very stupid, particularly
since it comes from intelligent persons.

I'd like to take issue with some comments from another list member
who stated that we are not monkeys, as if humans have some wonderfully
effective advantages over our predecessors.  All I can say is that I never
see monkeys screwing each other over as throughly as humans do just to
keep or get a bigger piece of the pie.  We have a long way to go, and this
certainly applies to the artistic folks as well; they might be the worst.
Our brains may be advancing, but our emotions can easily dive below ground
level.

Don Satz
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