Human Brain Can't Cope with Modern Classical Music

Why don't people like modern classical music? Blame the human brain: it can't comprehend it as music!

For decades critics of modern classical music have been derided as philistines for failing to grasp the subtleties of the chaotic sounding compositions, but there may now be an explanation for why many audiences find them so difficult to listen to.

A new book on how the human brain interprets music has revealed that listeners rely upon finding patterns within the sounds they receive in order to make sense of it and interpret it as a musical composition.

While traditional classical music follows strict patterns and formula that allow the brain to make sense of the sound, modern symphonies by composers such as Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern simply confuse listeners' brains.

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"windchimes in a woodchipper"! I love it.

It's like avante-garde theatre or modern "poetry" or the so-called "art" we're always complaining about here. Nobody really cares about that dreck, and it'll be forgotten soon enough.

"Classical" is a poor description. Classical refers to a period and genre, not the orchestral instruments used.
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Atonal music was never meant to be mainstream, anyway. The fact that some of it is so well-known speaks very positively about what we are willing to listen to.

But if the human eye can put up with artwork that is unpleasant to LOOK at, the human ear prefers something enjoyable to listen to, something to remember. Something simple, like a melody or the beautiful sound of an instrument.

It doesn't mean we are dumb or incapable. It is just normal.
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