Critic of the  “New Music”

“Atonal Revolution”, Emancipation of the Dissonance”, “Serialism”, “Aleatorik” ... There is no end with the slogans in the so-called “New Music”. Driven by the wish to create new and never-before-heard music, thousands of composers of the musical avantgarde have explored the farest regions of imagenable sounds. But the theories, on which this music is based, content some doubious estimations, that arise the question, if the New Music isn´t cought in a dead end street.

The abolition of tonality and of the metric rhythms in the New Music was founded by the argument, that these musical elements were worn out. This opinion went along with the expectation, that the audience would get used to the new sounds, and was often connected with a disdain of those, who didn´t like the resulting music. Meanwhile it is very clear, that this expectation didn´t come true. In spite of the fact that hearing conventions surely were expanded by atonal composition, a dissonance is still felt as a tension, and a consonance as a release. Still metric rhythms have an intensity, that moves the listening people. This situation arises the question, if it makes sense to give up musical elements, that are rooted so deeply in the collective consciousness, if not in the physical conditions of man.

The popular, african-influenced music was undervaluated with the argument, that the success of this music would be only short-term and superficial. Meanwhile it has come out, that the music for example of Duke Ellington is still very influential after more than seventy years, and that also pop-musicians like Lennon/McCartney or Mick Jagger still fascinate after almost forty years. On the other hand we see, that the valuation of the composers of european classic by no means is unchangeable. The adoration of the classisal music scene for Beethoven, for example, decreased a lot during the last fifty years.

With unbelievable energy most of the composers of the New Music defend the “Werkcharakter” (work quality?) of a composition. According to this, the so-called “work” exists independently of it´s performances in the empty space and has it´s real value there. This theory repeats and radicalizes an old problem of the european cultural history: the seperation between body and spirit, material and spiritual reality. The “Werk an sich” (work for itself) is identified with the spirit and is the real value, whereas the performance has only the less important material function. Of course, this opinion misses the reality of the human person as an inseperatable unity of body and spirit. As a musical piece, the composition exists only in the actual performance. The fascination of music clearly lies in the intense bodily-spiritual reception in the flow of time. So, the composers of the New Music missed the chance to overcome the european dualism between body and spirit. In comparison to the music of the 18th and 19th century it was even deepened.

For jazz musicians, this dualism was never a problem. Because of the african influences in jazz and the importance of improvisation, the natural unity of the human person was always maintained. In regard to this facts it is evident, that a music that creates solutions for the future problems of the european society cannot descend from the common principles of the New Music. (See also: Composition and Improvisation; Jazz seen as an encounter of african and european musical traditions).

Matthias Petzold

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