We're discussing symphonic composition, comparing absolutist and program music. Also we're looking at how symphony has moved through the periods, and gradually morphed into a soup including baroque, classical, early and late romantic, modernist and now rave, hip-hop, regae, eastern and other modern genres of music.
There are still symphonies being written, but they've a much broader language now, and for that reason a lot of people find them harder to understand because most people still learn music with a music vocabulary that limited itself in the 1940s and 50s. Even rock music didn't advance musical vocab most people learn. Errolyn Waller's music is an example of very fine modern symphony most people won't understand.
So we're thinking about what is the purpose of symphony as a living art form, and not just a museum piece, and how do we move music education forward so modern symphony is enjoyable for all people.
People like Paul McCartney, and the band Pink Floyd have tried for years to move audiences out of the limits that have only been set by tradition, not by immutable fact, with limited success. My feeling is we're a lazy thinking species, and unfortunately modern symphony suffers misunderstanding because of that.
