"Modern" Classical Music Isn't Classic

Saturday night brought yet another brilliant performance by the San Antonio symphony orchestra.  The program ranged from Glass (Concerto No.2 for Violin and Orchestra) to Handel (Royal Fireworks Music), with Gabriell (Canzon in Echo, Duodecimi Toni, a 10), Rameau (Suite from Nais) and Stravinsky (Concerto in E-flat, "Dumbarton Oaks") for good measure.

It is the Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra ("American Four Seasons") that is the basis for this screed.  The composer Philip Glass is a member of the 'Minimalist' set, which includes composers such as LaMonte Young, Terry Riley, and Steve Reich.  These musicians appear to believe that atonal dissonance (which they believe is based on Zen Buddhism meditative music--but to my ears is far from it) will stand the test of time.  Sadly, there were portions of his piece which did manage to grip the listener, but then it would descend back into repetitive boredom which I'm sure the composer feels is close to the meditative mantras used to achieve mushin.  A composition that takes me back and forth between "hmmm, that was interesting if strange" and "dear god I wish this was over--my ears are bleeding!" isn't going to have the staying power of 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik."

No, what strikes me about modern music is that the composers think that melody and rhythm are crutches which must be denied in order to be avant garde.  I spent some time this evening thinking back over the modern compositions I've heard over the decades, and cannot bring one to mind that has the appeal or staying power of compositions by Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Handel, Copeland, Bernstein, etc.  In my mind, the real composers whose music will stand the test of time and be played and enjoyed by audiences decades or centuries from now are those whose work is used in cinema.

As noted earlier, I can't recall a single modern piece that I would want to listen to again, but I can recall almost instantly the compositions of John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, Quincy Jones, Lalo Schiffrin, Ralph Vaughan-Williams, and Jerry Goldsmith to name just a few.  Long after Philip Glass's compositions are played before live audiences, people will still remember the haunting music of 'Titanic' or the Harry Potter films. 

And if that makes me a provincial buffoon, then so be it.  I know what I like, and it isn't what is jammed into my ears as 'Modern' music.