Steve Schwartz wrote:

>General recognition is as much a matter of luck as anything else, and
>people seem to understand this with respect to all music except what's
>generally called "atonal." I have yet to figure out why aesthetically this
>music constitutes a special case - why people should get so much hotter
>over this than over other music whose appeal is equally limited.

I don't have a great deal of experience with atonal music and I wonder
if I will ever fall in love with an atonal work.  Who can say that an
entire style is of little or no value? Personally, I have not been terribly
enthusiastic about the works I have heard.  I don't believe it has as much
to do with my understanding of the music as it does my own personal taste
which, in my experience, changes over time.  I look forward to the day when
I can sit down and listen to some atonal music by composer X with the same
high level of enjoyment I get from Bach or Brahms.

Now let me respond to the post.  I wonder if the modern day desire for
labels and general classification has anything to do with the heated
arguments over the validity of serial or atonal music.  This is just a
thought but I wonder if the very sound of the word "serial" conjures images
of non-inspiration in people's minds.  Perhaps it seems too automated or
computerized to some people as if the music has 1 percent human emotion or
involvement with the remaining 99 percent being left to chance numbers and
random, thoughtless and/or predetermined figures and accents.  I want to
stress that I do not feel this way but have sensed this attitude in many
individuals.  I know that the label doesn't change the music but people
often jump to conclusions when they hear descriptive labels.

Assumptions may play a big part in the whole situation as well.  People may
assume serial music is awful having heard their friend or colleague express
their disgust with it.  Then maybe when they DO get a chance to hear it
they are biased before it even begins and their bias eliminates the chance
of them listening fairly with open ears and heart.

I don't know why people get so frustrated with the subject of serial/atonal
music.  Some people express their dislike for Mahler's 6th or Wagner's
Parsifal but rarely do I hear someone jab at an entire "style" as they do
with atonal music.  Maybe this entire post is as far from the mark as
possible but I don't like to underestimate the ability of people to
pre-judge.  I have been guilty of it myself many times.

--Wes Crone