Call me old-fashioned, but sometimes modern music just gets to me. This afternoon, we had a guest forum with freelance composer and FSU graduate, Stephen Montague. The lecture he gave was articulate, opinionated, and full of good information, but while I respect how well crafted his music seemed, it really didn't do anything for me on any level. As I glanced around the room and saw various students smiling or nodding with comprehension, I had to wonder just how many were faking it. The list of excerpts Stephen distributed was for a mixture of acoustical and electronic playback, often with a tape accompanying a live ensemble for sounds they can't replicate. He's also done off-the-wall commissions including a work for 1000 performers on the beach, and a work for claxton horn soloist and twenty automobiles. Though I haven't heard the works, I've always thought that ventures like those reduce the credibility of new music by emphasizing a gimmick over musicality.

Then again, I still don't stray very far from the bounds of functional harmony, so my opinion is definitely not the status quo of modern composers.

"It was horribly out of tune, but it was good enough for jazz." - professor, on his "A-B-C" trumpet