Contemporary Composers

"Contemporary Composers" by Daniel Gregory Mason is a reflective look at composers from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. The book looks at how societal changes affected music, especially focusing on figures such as Richard Strauss, Edward Elgar, and Claude Debussy. Mason thinks that many new directions in music move away from the emotional feeling found in older pieces. Initially, the author thinks about links between music and social changes, claiming that making music more widely available has caused a split between high-quality artistic standards and what the public likes. He thinks about how support for the arts has changed, leading to a mix of better and worse musical works, also looking at what this means for music later, pointing out a need to go back to deeper emotions and artistic statements. This beginning creates a contemplative and criticizing overview about current music compared to older tradition and emotional honesty.