I have reflected on the question of beauty in music quite a lot recently
and concluded that for me it isn't a very useful criterion for evaluating
pieces by, without further qualification.  I prefer either the objective
(complexity, dissonance etc.) or the subjective (the effect particular
pieces have on me).  I think there is a popular usage which I sometimes
find myself slipping into, which privileges melody and calmness.
Nevertheless, I can find beauty in other aspects of a piece, such as
orchestration, without requiring a piece to be beautiful in this sense.

Virginia Knight
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Personal hompage: http://www.ilrt.bris.ac.uk/~ggvhk/virginia.html