522Classical music is "comfortable with notation" et seq.
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523XXI Century Classical--postclassical
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524And at this point I must also hoist a warning flag. The advantages of this new approach are evident and multiple, as detailed above. But there are dangers as well. With this exceptional case of production, it's easy for a beginning composer to write anything, hear it, and bask in the joy thereof. The initial thrill is a wonderful thing, but if one is not careful, it can short-circuit essential critical faculties and lead to believing a first draft is final.
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525Reference: Henry Cowell: New Musical Resources
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526That rationalism also gave spectralism an edge. Many of its sounds were genuinely "beautiful," but beauty had been suspect ever since the end of the first world ar, and by the end of the second, it was basically verboten. But spectralism's extremely scientific approval (replete with mathematical analysis of frequency relations) gave cover to composers entering this sound world. It's a nasty and non-too-secret fact that composer, in their geekiness, get very excited, and indeed feel empowered, by the technical arcana for the field (in fact like most professors, look at doctors, lawyers, engineers, financial managers--why do artists have to be intuitive naifs). Spectralism answered this need with a vengeance. It allowed the French to reassert their intellectual, not just sensual, authority. It was a godsend. And it's not surprising either that like serialism, it has too migrated to the United States, first in the appointment... et seq.
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