Dave Harman <[log in to unmask]> writes: >Jocelyn Wang wrote: > >>1.) Beethoven did not write any atonal works, > >You really should read the review. The language used by the critic shows >he was offended by what he heard. To us the 2nd symphony is not atonal. >To the reviewer it was as unpleasent to listen to as you feel atonal music >is. I've read more than one review of Beethoven's work by contemporary critics, probably the same review to which you refer. >>2.) his music never made concert-goers wary of anything else composed >>contemporaneously > >Nor should an encounter with 20th century atonal music do that either. "An" encounter? No, it shouldn't. But encounter after encounter? That is understandable, although I have always maintained that music should be judged by its content, not its date of composition. Jocelyn Wang Culver Chamber Music Series