Steve Schwartz <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>Actually, a lot of people who identify Schoenberg and his atonal followers
>as villains have never heard a piece by Schoenberg or his followers, or,
>if so, maybe one piece.

I don't know of anyone who has condemned atonality without having heard it.

>Today, I was rehearsing for a choral concert, and I heard something
>that made me ill.  The choir director expressed an interest in performing
>choral work by Hindemith and Schoenberg (one of whom is tonal, the other
>not always atonal).  Several singers turned up their noses at the idea.
>I asked them which pieces they had heard, since I can think of several
>by both eminently worth doing.

I'm not the biggest fan of Hindemith, either, but, yes, he has composed
many works worth performing.  We have presented his works a number of
times.  I would venture to say that the closed-minded reaction you
described was a case of Hindemith was being found guilty by association--
not because he composed atonal works (he didn't), but because of when he
lived.  He's not the only composer of the past 80 years to have experienced
such reluctance because so many, rightly or wrongly (but understandably),
have had so many unpleasant experiences from atonal works, which are often
associated with being "modern."

Jocelyn Wang
Culver Chamber Music Series
www.bigfoot.com/~CulverMusic