Ol' Time Atonal

[Bill Stokes]

Mando kicks it off. Best banjo solo EVER.

(I searched "atonal" and didn't see this. Apologies if it's already posted somewhere.)

[kurth83]

Hilarious, the musical jokes just kept coming.

I have played Schoenberg and 12 tone rows (in the distant past), so I caught those references.

[rcc56]

When I got back into the music business, I auditioned to play bass on a restaurant gig with a really good piano player. I got the job and worked with the fellow for ten years.

After the audition, we talked about our backgrounds, getting to know each other. I was in my late 30's, and belatedly finishing up my music degree. Dave had a Master's degree from the University of Cincinnati.

I asked him what his school was like. He said that the school had engaged on a momentous project-- they had recorded the complete cycle of Schoenberg string quartets.

I asked him, "Why?"
He thought about it for a moment, then scratched his head, and replied, "I really don't know . . ."

Thank you, Allison et al.

[Bertram Henze]

A banjo break perfectly legal in both worlds

[OneChordTrick]

Or as Sir Thomas Beecham replied to the question whether he had heard any Stockhausen: "No, but I think I've trodden in some."

[BoxCarJoe]

From a generation before the atonal guys but relevant:

Mark Twain on Wagner - "His music is much better than it sounds."

[BrianWilliam]

“Ah haaaa!”

[ChesterJones]

Great! Would love to hear everybody take solos! The John Cage piano solo was perfect! Thanks for posting this.

[Jim Garber]

Nice backup band, too.

[Carl23]

When I got back into the music business, I auditioned to play bass on a restaurant gig with a really good piano player. I got the job and worked with the fellow for ten years.

After the audition, we talked about our backgrounds, getting to know each other. I was in my late 30's, and belatedly finishing up my music degree. Dave had a Master's degree from the University of Cincinnati.

I asked him what his school was like. He said that the school had engaged on a momentous project-- they had recorded the complete cycle of Schoenberg string quartets.

I asked him, "Why?"
He thought about it for a moment, then scratched his head, and replied, "I really don't know . . ."

Thank you, Allison et al.

Should I not mention that I like Schoenberg's first quartet?... maybe not.

:-)

C

[rcc56]

Should I not mention that I like Schoenberg's first quartet?... maybe not.

:-)

C

If I remember correctly, the first is tonal, and like-able. And he was moving back towards tonal composition late in life.

Atonality and atonal serialism can be interesting from a certain point of view. Some of Webern's tiny pieces have a certain charm.
But I wouldn't want a steady diet of it.

If this thread has any educational value, it might encourage some folks to look up the 12 tone composers.
There is something to be learned from them.

I prefer the way J.S. Bach and some of his contemporaries handled some of the ideas that were later incorporated into serialism.
I also like Bach more when he is in his sunnier moods.