Chris Bonds <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>All those who have abandoned tonal music for an exclusive diet of
>atonal and 12-tone music, stand up and be counted!

I don't think the point has ever been to 'abandon' tonal music or to have
one's listening consist 'exclusively' of atonal music, even to Schoenberg
or Boulez.

>How many grade school kids do you know who compose atonal music?  Or
>sing it?

When I was a little kid, I spent lots of time improvising at the piano.
Sometimes I tried to play music with the style of Mozart; sometimes I
tried out stuff with no tonality.  I only have a few scraps of stuff that
I actually wrote down, but it runs the gamut.

Of course, I had been exposed to the Mikrokosmos and my grandfather's
record collection; I wasn't discovering atonal music from first principles.
But I didn't discover tonal music from first principles either, obviously.

>I think you interest people in it AFTER they've committed to serious
>musical study.  When I see otherwise happening I will change my opinion
>on this.

I don't know whether you consider listening to a bunch of records 'serious
musical study', but I've been interested in atonal music as long as I've
been interested in music, basically.

Dan Schmidt | http://www.dfan.org