Bliss?
Saw Brett Dean’s new opera Bliss last night (reviews here). Lots to recommend – astonishing set, brilliant performances. I think the music has grown on me since watching it.
I’m a bit over gratuitous dissonance these days though. It doesn’t seem culturally relevant to me. I think the tipping point for me is around something I’ll call decipherability – is the music so complex that I can’t decode it? Because if I can’t work out roughly what the harmonic progressions are, what the rhythms are, then I’m essentially hearing noise, even if I’m listening to music. There were quite a few times last night where I didn’t follow what was going on compositionally.
That having been said there are many stretch-modernists whose music I admire: Messiaen & Ligeti are probably the two favorites that come to mind. What are your feelings about super-modern art music?
