In Reply to: It's very dissonant, but is it atonal? posted by Chris from Lafayette on August 23, 2014 at 16:06:42:
...that exists between tonal (diatonic) music and strictly atonal music. I was probably a bit rash in labeling Bartok's #4 as "atonal" per se, but it is certainly on the continuum heading towards atonality. The recording that the OP posted simply moved it farther towards atonality than a performance by a conventional string quartet using legato instruments. I have no use for truly atonal music - it irritates me and I find NO beauty whatsoever in it. About the only positive I can muster for atonal music is that I can sometimes admire the craft in it. But, in the end, why bother?
In Bartok's quartet oeuvre, #4 is farthest down the continuum towards atonality with #3 nipping on its heels to my ears/sensibilities. I'm generally fine with the others. Go figure - musical taste is one weird phenomenon!
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Follow Ups
- To my ear, there is a continuum... - krisjan 17:33:42 08/23/14 (0)