So, I went to the Playground Ensemble's 5th-Annual Colorado Composer's Concert (CoCoCo). I rather enjoyed it and was very surprised to find that most of the pieces were predominantly tonal. I was expecting this. Most concerts I go to with modern works in them are atonal, 10-tone, or some other style that is hard on the layman's ear.
Now, as a composer myself, I am not a layman (in terms of music, only), however even as a composer I have never understood the modern penchant for "academic" music styles. They are usually uncomfortable to listen to and no one in the general public would want to commission a composer to write one for them (or their film). Since there really can't be much profit or even wide-spread acceptance of the style, why do modern composers insist in writing this way?
I don't get it. Don't get me wrong: a sprinkling of atonality in a piece can have great dramatic effect--I just don't think an entire piece should be composed of it.
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