THE AGONY OF MODERN MUSIC

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000400010014-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 26, 2000
• Sequence Number: 14
• Content Type: NSPR

STATINTL
Appr ed,.F.or Release 20005/24: CIAtDP75-000018000400010014-8
Soj otes on the core
THE AGONYy~,OF MODERN MUSIC: sicism") and the twelve-tone
By Henry Iieasent f 84 pp. New method. Both are characterized
i*ork: Simon 1 Sc ;ter. $3... as failures with the support of
By ARTHUR BERGER a quotation from Roger Ses-
T HIS has been an age in which sions, interpreted by Mr. Pleas-
coxiipoaers have been un- ants as a "euphemistic way"
commonly 'articulate in prose. of confessing "harmonic sul-
What they write about much of tide" which resulted in "in-
the time the sis h aabilityy to speak musically at
vyfiich mu : ham, recen been little matter of a few
passing. it v accord dots where portions of the
ing to Henry Pte ts, seal "6Rginal were conveniently. omit-
-their or By squot ted deprives us of this com-
from Mein iat ei wits Poser's views, contrary to those
thesis, by interpeting in them of this book, that Schoenberg,
most ne a a hion? then M Bartaic and Stravinsky were
healthy inquiry into 'the state extraordinary," that they not
of- music, by taking their pa- only "posed the questions" faced
the quarrels ? c terria oftoday but also provided "the
as
rochial al
inadequacy of this trend or first solutions."
that, and by imagining a fan.
tastic plot between critand
composers to promote an arti"
greatest'music is what immedi-
ately appeals to the. greater
ttgml r.. He.buttresse*s this with
reviews : and success stories
(marsly -9 f riin'etegnth-century
during a composer's life were a
condition to immortality. But
an. artist has failures, too, and
in deploring their frequent ci-
tributes fre uently to The Times tation Mr. Pleasants unde;esti-
on- Europ ae n' 'musical events, mates them _as a warning that
.ficial condition ,ot creg v . ste-
rility, 'he has taiei to pw, in
a manner obvio4s y topp rived to
irritate the professional world;
that the crisis 'bias no, been
Overcome, that ' "modern music
is not modern' ..and is rarely
music.
Formerly music editor of The
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin,
Mr. Pleasants who now con-
ostensibly lends authority to
what certain listeners have long
deluded themselves into believ-
ing on their own". But with this
approval come implications they
must aisq face- For For music Is
viewed here as ideally "a spon-
taneous invention by practicing
musicians," which places a com-
poser On the level of wandering
minstrel. Mr. Pleasants not only
claims that "the evolution of
Western music continues in
American popular music" rather
than in today's "serious" music,
but he also infers that the art
was already in decline with
Mozart and Haydn, since by
their time works were mostly
written down as they were to be
played, and Improvisation on
the performer's part, such as
we again find In jazz, was
pretty much `restricted to the
concerto cadenza.
The final dkbs.cle is traced to
1910 or so when resources of
tonality were exhausted. Two,
alternatives presented them-
selves: reinstatement of earlier
principles (so-called "neo-clas-
Chairman of Graduate Studies
in Music at Brandeis, Mr. Ber-
ger is-a critic and composer.
no single gudience or critic is
Infallible._ In today's society an
artist too sensitive to fight
back might even be lost to pos-
terity or his profounder works
(like Beethoven's last quartets)
may be least appreciated while
he lives.
It is odd that the author ig-
nores old Viennese operetta
which, though it was not im-
provised, presents the closest
parallel to our popular music.
Each is highly developed enter-
tainment, partaking of folk art
and touching brilliantly on fine
art. The, masters admired Jo-
hann Strauss as composers now
admire jazz. Any .evaluation of
jazz as the highest type of con-
temporary music because of its
popular acceptance should also
place Strauss above Chopin or
Schubert. With this yardstick,
too, such forgotten competitors
of Beethoven as Hummel be-
come his equals or superiors.
The deplorable falling away
of an audience that met new
music halfway is not at all
held responsible by Mr. Pleas-
ants for the alienation that
has set in. The composer if
entirely to blame,
Approved For Release 2000/05/24: CIA-RDP75-00001 R000400010014-8