10.27.09
Avant-garde music vs art
Who’s afraid of the avant-garde?
Philip Ball 21st October 2009 — Issue 164
There’s a reason why we find it easier to “get” modern art than avant-garde music, and it’s not just about our natural conservatism and love of Mozart
I often (usually in vain) suggest a study of the eonic effect in relation to many subjects, among them the questions of music and art. We see a strong correlation of artistic genuis and the eonic sequence, strong but never exclusive.
With music we see the exact correlation of modern classical music with the modern transition and divide, followed by a fairly swift falling off by the period of Schonberg. Remarkable.
It doesn’t occur to people that the clustering of genius is a macro-historical dynamical question.
With art we see something a little different: just as the transition is waning the revolution called modern art begins, as if to extend the life of the creative period.
Actually, it is a long study. Who knows, quite. But the questions of fine art and music are different and the eonic effect reflects that.
A Mozart is almost a novelty of world history. But fine art is already a species characteristic, existing in every generation since the Paleolithic. Thus the relative transformation of fine art during the eonic sequence is therefore less visible.
With complex forms of art with which man is less adept, e.g. the summit of literary art seen first in Greek tragedy or music at the level of the classical period we can see that outside of the eonic sequence they don’t occur. And as the transition of the modern period wanes, so does music, the question of tragedy being openended, since we have not even defined our terms.
But, obviously, noone is going to replicate Shakespeare any time soon.
Fine art, while it might slump for a while after the decline of the ‘modernist’ period is not likely to go latent. Every generation can reconceive fine art.
What will happen with music remains obscure.
As to tragedy: you are free to refute this judgment: sit down and write a blank verse tragedy that is really tragic (which is what?), and….