Don Satz:

>Getting back to Strauss in general, I consider his music to have a firm
>foot in the 19th century, and my view is that his music does not
>represent significant advances or innovations of the 20th century.

Salome, which I think was first performed in 1905, may not represent a
significant advance or innovation on the 19th century, at least not to
those enthralled by that period, but it certainly attempted to break with
its tradition.  At its premiere in Dresden this attempt brought down the
house--for its persuasive sally to the borders of tonality (and then return
to it) and its experiments in harmony (such as the Jews' Quintet).  This
quasi-opera, really more like a symphonic ballad, was clearly a wannabe
departure even from the most progressive practice of the 19th century.Any
way you slice it, Salome was a seminal 20th century work.I can think of
nothing earlier in the century as innovative.

Denis Fodor                     Internet:100766.2076@compuserve