The Incredible Avant-Gardes of the Twentieth Century

While reorganizing my personal library, I discovered a number of books I did not recall owning.

Among them were numerous publications devoted to Bruno Maderna (1920–1973), as well as studies on other composers associated with what was then termed the “avant-garde” (a term of military origin, later adopted by the political left, and subsequently acquiring a range of meanings in the artistic domain).

Faced with the quantity of such publications, which occupy considerable space on my shelves, I found myself reflecting on how many books have been written about composers whose music appears to have attracted limited audiences, if any at all, both in the past and in the present.

I have had the privilege of living among highly educated individuals. None of them has ever reported dedicating an evening to listening to composers such as Bruno Maderna, Milton Babbitt, Luigi Nono, Franco Donatoni, Cornelius Cardew, Gérard Grisey, and others. It would therefore be difficult to argue that this repertoire, while not appealing to a broader audience, nevertheless engages a more intellectually oriented one.

Indeed, my highbrow acquaintances—university and conservatory professors—tend instead to discuss the rock music they listen to. Differences in taste within this domain appear to be largely generational. Alternatively, they express an interest in Western music of the “common practice period” (1600–1800), with only limited engagement with non-avant-garde twentieth-century repertoire.

From a historical perspective, it is noteworthy that a couple of generation of composers whose music is seldom performed or listened to has nonetheless achieved a stable position within musicological discourse (despite being largely ignored, when not disliked) even by those orchestral practitioners, with whom I have frequently interacted. It is equally noteworthy that one or two generations of avant-garde composers, have managed to make a living, despite the insignificant circulation of their works. This may be regarded as a unique occurrence in the history of Western music.