When I first heard Wozzeck in 1966, I was appalled. This was not music! It made no sense to me- there were no resolutions, no melodies to hang onto. Then in theory class in the 80s, we listened to John Cage. Ridiculous crap. Then the Dallas opera presented Aspern Papers a new opera by Dominic Argento, and while it had a lot of dissonance and strange tonal relationships, it managed somehow to lead to resolutions and even had an aria or two that left me in tears. Resolution after conflict is strong stuff.
And this year, at Ariodante I was bored to snoring by three and a half hours of Handel, as lovely as he is. So it seems with age, I have come to appreciate the value of dissonance, the need for it in our lives. Otherwise we'd be comatose from the predictable and monotonous harmonies. But all dissonance, without structure---? You know-thinking about it--too many people live in dissonance today.
Of course, as THomas knows, I'm a classicist at heart. |
