Steve Schwartz <[log in to unmask]> gives us a sampling of his
favorites from Slonimsky's Lexicon of Musical Invective:

>Debussy's Afternoon of a Faun was a strong example of modern ugliness.
>The faun must have had a terrible afternoon, for the poor beast brayed
>on muted horns and whinnied on flutes, and avoided all trace of
>soothing melody, until the audience began to share his sorrows.

This recalls my feeling of the other day when the radio transmitted
one of Messiaen's organ works.  I missed the announcer's introductory
identification of it, but it sounded to me like one of those late ones of
his where the lettering of the notes combine to send a message.  Unlike
some of this composer's otheroworkf, which I like well enough, this one
passed me by.  Music not to listen to, but to be deciphered by insiders.

Denis Fodor