Denis Fodor writes:

>To put a point to it--after all, we're dealing with a thread here--music
>lovers generally find the atonal and serial stuff unpleasant and ugly.
>They do not feel that these qualities, or lack of them, make ugly music
>pleasurable.  Ugly music is something one dislikes.  Even something one
>loathes.

I really wouldn't get into this except to say that I like some serial and
atonal music (as I like some tonal music).  I don't find it ugly.  In fact,
I find examples of music ugly to the point of unlistenability exceedingly
rare.  Since I believe that one's reaction to art is a personal matter, I
don't object to someone finding the dodecaphonic music unpleasant or even
ugly, as I hope no one would object to me finding most bel canto opera
exceedingly trite and dull.  The only thing I object to, really, is when
someone who likes atonal/dodecaphonic music tries to elevate his taste to
a universal aesthetic principle or when a hater of the music dismisses it
as worthless, in short, also raising his taste to a universal aesthetic
principle.

Steve Schwartz