Kevin Wampler <wampler+pov### [at] uwashingtonedu> wrote:
> I'll admit that I'm rather surprised that you a consider coherent
> harmonic progression to be a necessary criteria for music to be good.

it's been the main drive behind the works of composers since Bach... it's what
permitted music to hold high status and for Beethoven's sonatas and symphonies
to be compared to Shakespeare's plays.  Because the sequence of
tension-resolution chords of tonal music is drama condensed...

> That
> seems rather to me like saying that good poetry should have a coherent
> rhyme pattern.

actually, that's structure.

> Where do you place something like the prelude to Das Rheingold, which
> while tonal has essentially no harmonic progression and is essentially a
> work dealing with orchestral texture?

I don't know.  Never heard the prelude.  I only know best-known tunes from
operas.

> On the other end, what about
> something like Rite of Spring which has a tonal structure, but one which
> takes many more liberties than in traditional classical music?


generated at the time.  You know, tonal is good so double tonal can only be
great! ;)

I think the work wouldn't be as successful if it went the Schoenberg route...

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