Charles Wuorinen is not a composer whose music is likely to hold much appeal for casual listeners. He demands that audiences pay close attention to his rigorously modernist music, but for listeners who like unambiguously atonal music, his work can be exhilarating. Part of its appeal lies in the virtuoso ability that it requires of performers. Whatever one may think of the music itself, it would be hard to deny that it gives performers a chance to dazzle with old-fashioned bravura display. A prime example is the Scherzo for ...
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Charles Wuorinen is not a composer whose music is likely to hold much appeal for casual listeners. He demands that audiences pay close attention to his rigorously modernist music, but for listeners who like unambiguously atonal music, his work can be exhilarating. Part of its appeal lies in the virtuoso ability that it requires of performers. Whatever one may think of the music itself, it would be hard to deny that it gives performers a chance to dazzle with old-fashioned bravura display. A prime example is the Scherzo for piano. Peter Serkin, an outstanding advocate of new music, does indeed deliver a dazzling performance of the hyper-kinetic, dramatically volatile piece. Another part of the appeal of Wuorinen's work is its indisputable musicality. While his harmonic language and use of extreme dissonance may put some listeners off, the musical gestures always have a sense of inevitability, an expressive shapeliness, and even an idiomatic gracefulness. His writing is uncompromisingly complex, but at...
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