Dee's Reviews > Illegal Harmonies: Music in the 20th Century

Well outside my usual range, but this was recommended by a wider-read and music-loving buddy, and I'm glad I took a swing at it because this was a really fascinating look at the developments of art in the 20th century, through the lens of art music. Occasionally it got too deep into the musical theory weeds and I got lost for a paragraph, but the author noted in the opening that he had tried to keep things accessible, and largely I think he succeeded. It was particularly interesting to consider the pressures on art, from history and geography and politics and society, and how all of those push "new" art in different directions. And around the edges of the specific movements and philosophies and shifts, there is always the larger question - what is music, what should it be doing, how should we engage with it, what makes it "good" or "bad".