Hi Gloria, Hi Bubble.  I'm ready to go!

Great! I am here....

DON  I had the station on earlier, boy that announcer was BAD and was so glad when I heard your voice come in. Nice lively tune to start.

I'm here -- until it get too warm. I haven't got my air conditioner in the window yet. Did the other three and I have the bruises to prove it.

You are right Gloria, he mumbles a lot!  But the music was OK

MarsGal, be careful! We don't want anything to happen to you.

Spiegel Im Spiegel  is  haunting!

Gloria that guy is even older than I am.  I think he's 89 and he's been here longer than I have.

Hi MarsGal

Darn.  Missed the first two; was looking forward to both.

Hi Pat.

DON  thought he sounded ancient. I agree about Spiegel In Spiegel, hauntingly beautiful.

Pat, it's a real pity that you missed  Spiegel In Spiegel, it is something really special.

Yes, it is.  I'm slightly familiar with it, and would like to get to know it better.

Bloodthirsty kids.

ha ha ha  they all are!

I first heard Spiegl Im Spiegl  in the movie Wit and the context in which it was played was spell binding.  It's one of the best movies I have ever seen; albeit heart wrenching.

I'm still not going to switch to beer for breakfast.

I could not wake up in the morning without coffee - never!

I think we are all agreed on this matter

No beer for breakfast or supper either. No coffee? Horrors. I am enjoying the Mississippi Suite. Some parts remind me of popular songs.

what about coffee with a shot of vodka or whiskey in it?

English Folk Song Suite is fun!

Thank you for a super evening.  Layla tov!

Nice concert, Don.  Thank you.

BUBBLE  maybe a small shot of whisky first followed by a fast swallow of coffee. I would prefer a glass of wine.

DON listening to the old composers and how their work has lasted so long, wonder what composers these days will be listened to a century from now. Love the ending with Greensleeves.

Thank you for an enjoyable afternoon.  Au revoir, a bien tot. Wonder how good I remembered my high school French.

Gloria I have wondered the same thing. I think that the classics we enjoy today will always be with us and I doubt that nothing that is composed today will endure the same way that the ones we enjoy.
As for your French, it's as good as mine.  I will defer to Bubble on that subject

You pose an interesting question, Gloria and Don.  I'm beginning to get more and more into  the spirit of modern "classical" music, but I'm not sure I think it will survive.  What does any of you think?  What, written since we were born, do you think has a chance of surviving?

I'm reminded of the movie 2001; it's not clear in the movie, but in the book, the astronaut who knows he's hurtling toward a place where he won't return is trying to keep up his spirits by listening to the canned entertainment on board.  In the end, the only thing that doesn't seem trivial to him is Bach.

Modern compositions seem to go a counter "the beat of human life/body". By that I mean that the rhythm of the classical music we know of old seems to follow the beat of the heart, the tempo of breathing, the flow of thoughts. It synchronizes with the way we are and sooths us.
Modern is more tense, stressful, and its rhythm usually changes our tempo, make us try to adjust or even can sound cacophonic as if we were allergic to it.
Anyway that is how I feel - not comfortable with it and can only endure it for a short time.
Gershwin seems ok - also part of Stravinsky, maybe...  But then I am not too knowledgeable on the subject.

I agree with 2001!

A bientot, Gloria!

I, as a rule, do not like the modern tense, discordant music, but...
I would have to say that I believe a few of them will be among the long lasting. I nominate Philip Glass as among those who make the cut. This is one of his more orchestral pieces written as a kind of tribute to his dad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJW6T6WVn08 Most of us know him for his more theatrical pieces like Koyaanisqatsi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4WlNj1TTqA Check out his music for the opera Akhanaten on YouTube along with his other recent orchestral pieces. Here is a Cello Octet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJXZYlUwR2w  This is one of my favorites so far,  Itaipu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNsVwBv_jcw

Okay enough, I think. Glass is considered a "minimalist" composer. He often sounds a bit repetitive, but we've heard composers before that take a score or two and change it slightly by adding or subtracting "undercurrents" along the way. It reminds me that Ravel did similar with his Bolero.

I could not relate at all with  Itaipu   maybe just as some background nature noise but not as music.

Cello Octet pn the other hand is something different. But it made me oppressed... a very uncomfortable  feeling. Maybe because it is so  repetitive?

I did not Glass, it could be that one has to get used to his kind of music.  I am not ready for it  YET!
Same as I am not ready yet for many of the technological new devices, except the computer.
Maybe I am too old to adapt.

I think the reference to 2001 Space Odyssey is appropriate because to me it's a visual manifestation of the modern musical idiom: esoteric, complex and at times incomprehensible. These are descriptions that one could not easily apply to music created prior to the 19th century, and this is music that has endured to greater or lesser degrees for centuries and is likely to endure for centuries to come.
Pat asks us what works written in our lifetime will survive the ages to come. I would suggest very few: Copland, Groffe, Gershwin for sure, Stravinsky and Shostakovich very likely and a few others that don't come to mind. MarsGal's choice of Philip Glass is a good one, but as noted he is more minimalist than dissonance as is Arvo Part whom we heard last Sunday (Spiegl Im Spiegl) But for the likes of Stockhausen, Hindemith et al I hold no hope.
I quite like Bubble's analysis of the effect of music upon the psyche and totally agree that dissonance is almost counter-intuitive to what the human mind desires.
Perhaps this review in a Paris newspaper following the riot at a performance of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring sums up her opinion:  said the reviewer of the music, "At a deeper level, the music negates the very thing that for most people gives it meaning: the expression of human feelings."

This may be overstated, but Beethoven said, "Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman." I just can't imagine any music in the avante-garde, modern musical idiom being able to do that.

I am very impressed with your input on this subject

Beethoven knew what he was talking about.

I wonder if this modern music is a reflection of today with its' noise, bustle and stress of modern living, or if it is more a matter of composers feeling a freedom to be different and experiment with sounds that may not have been well taken or actively discouraged in the past.

Interesting question: Did modern music and modern art appear at about the same time? I never cared much for modern art either, although there are exceptions. Never liked cubism, pointillism, or the bizarre sculptures that dot the landscape these days.