Thanks for responses to my review of the Lutoslawski performance recent;y
from LA Phil.

My memory is not trustworthy, but I could have sworn that in his
pre-performance talk, Salonen said that some of what he had to say about
the Lutoslawski (about its arguable narrative nature) came from Lutoslawski
himself.  Salonen was very close to the man in the last years of the
composer's life.  But I could be wrong about this.

Nonetheless, I feel Salonen's "modern composer" credentials are fairly
good, and he was obviously comfortable discussing the piece in terms of
a narrative 'scene," if not really a 'story."

I read a post in another thread where - and I can't seem to refind it!
- where someone opines that it is definitely, unarguably true that music
cannot deliver emotion, let alone a story - Ah ha!  Just remembered.
It's in that thread about music that makes one sad (Philip Glass makes
me sad.  For my time and my culture).

Anyway.  Stravinsky's famous comment is something to the effect of "Music
is incapable of representing anything but itself." Does someone have the
exact quote?

I think this is 20th century, post-modern humbuggery, stemming from a
resentment of the love that most music-lovers hold for old-fashioned
tonal music, which moves them in ways that they find "modern" music
cannot.  Non-tonal music has a limited emotional palette, IN MY OPINION.
It very well evokes despair, anxiety, disquiet, etc.  Or unfocused anger.
Great for "Wozzeck." And great for the score to "Alien," as a matter of
fact.  But it's a limited, dark palette.

Of course, the 20th century was pretty dark, anxious, and anger-inducing.
So maybe we got the music we would have had anyway.  But once we are
past the stunts (I put a lot of John Cage and Stockhausen in that
category), and with the world evolving into a different place than it
was for most of the 20th century - for better or worse, who can say?  -
I feel non-tonal music is as dead in its way as tonal music seemed 100
years ago.  It communicates to fewer and fewer people.  And it never
communicated to all that many to begin with.

The composers trying to find a new approach to tonal music - such as
John Adams - interest me. I don't know if that music is just another
dead-end.  But I'm listening to "El Nino" right now and look forward
to seeing it at LA Phil on Saturday.  I think there's a narrative there
(wink wink) - is it only in the libretto?  Maybe.

Just my thoughts - maybe not even two-cents worth...

C Mullins