Here's a sonatina for clarinet and piano by Malcom Arnold:
There's nothing wrong with that, it's boisterous and, uh, boisterous. By the one-minute mark we are just about to hear the second theme, it sounds like. It didn't really make me want to hear more, though.
Part of the introduction to Tintagel by Arnold Bax:
I listened to the whole excerpt. It sounds a bit like Sibelius and water, but that's ok. The melody, when it finally arrived, was a bit of an anticlimax--folky and sentimental.
Harrison Birtwistle, Movement for String Quartet
Nervous, fragmentary and annoying. Barely made it to one minute. Reminds me of not-very-good Bartok.
Let's jump to an American: Lou Harrison, String Trio:
It's not bad, but I did stop at the one-minute mark. This is the kind of meandering atonality that I have heard plenty of and don't need any more of. Reminds me of uninspired Alban Berg.
Carl Ruggles: Sun-Treader
I used to have this recording. No, I didn't listen past the one-minute mark. Why does so much 20th century orchestral music sound like the soundtrack to a horror film? Was it because the 20th century was so horrific? This was written in 1931, so there was certainly a lot to be horrified about. But I'm just not going to enjoy listening to the rest...
Elie Siegmeister: Three Studies for Piano
This is not bad. It doesn't try to bully the listener. But after a minute, I was getting the sense that there was quite a lot of jazz influence and I didn't get the sense that we were going anywhere, so...
Włodzimierz Kotoński - Antyfony 1989 (for tape)
I was glad to see this was for tape. Some of it sounds like choir, which would be cruel. No, not interested. I have sat through "performances" of electronic music played through high-quality sound systems in concert halls and I am aggressively uninterested!
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