Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Preface: Against Utopia ix
4. 1. Et in Arcadia Ego Or, I Didn’t Know I Was Such a Pessimist until I Wrote This Thing 1
5. 2. Only Time Will Cover the Taint 21
6. 3. “Nationalism”: Colonialism in Disguise? 25
7. 4. Why Do They All Hate Horowitz? 30
8. 5. Optimism amid the Rubble 37
9. 6. A Survivor from the Teutonic Train Wreck 43
10. 7. Does Nature Call the Tune? 46
11. 8. Two Stabs at the Universe 51
12. 9. In Search of the “Good” Hindemith Legacy 60
13. 10. Six Times Six: A Bach Suite Selection 66
14. 11. A Beethoven Season? 71
15. 12. Dispelling the Contagious Wagnerian Mist 81
16. 13. How Talented Composers Become Useless 86
17. 14. Making a Stand against Sterility 94
18. 15. A Sturdy Musical Bridge to the Twenty-first Century 98
19. 16. Calling All Pundits: No More Predictions! 104
20. 17. In The Rake’s Progress, Love Conquers (Almost) All 109
21. 18. Markevitch as Icarus 118
22. 19. Let’s Rescue Poor Schumann from His Rescuers 124
23. 20. Early Music: Truly Old-Fashioned at Last? 129
24. 21. Bartók and Stravinsky: Odd Couple Reunited? 133
25. 22. Wagner’s Antichrist Crashes a Pagan Party 138
26. 23. A Surrealist Composer Comes to the Rescue of Modernism 144
27. 24. Corraling a Herd of Musical Mavericks 153
28. 25. Can We Give Poor Orff a Pass at Last? 161
29. 26. The Danger of Music and the Case for Control 168
30. 27. Ezra Pound: A Slim Sound Claim to Musical Immortality 181
31. 28. Underneath the Dissonance Beat a Brahmsian Heart 186
32. 29. Enter Boris Goudenow, Just 295 Years Late 191
33. 30. The First Modernist 195
34. 31. The Dark Side of the Moon 202
35. 32. Of Kings and Divas 217
36. 33. The Golden Age of Kitsch 241
37. 34. No Ear for Music: The Scary Purity of John Cage 261
38. 35. Sacred Entertainments 280
39. 36. The Poietic Fallacy 301
40. 37. The Musical Mystique: Defending Classical Music against Its Devotees 330
41. 38. Revising Revision 354
42. 39. Back to Whom? Neoclassicism as Ideology 382
43. 40. She Do the Ring in Different Voices 406
44. 41. Stravinsky and Us 420
45. 42. Setting Limits (a talk) 447
46. Index 467