The selection of the subject, “The New in Music,” was prompted by an interest in the frequent appearance of new aspects in the art music. The following critique is the result of an attempt to uncover forces which work toward forming the new, to evaluate essential factors of newness, and to consider the reaction of the public to new musical trends. Although the accent of the work is placed on the music of the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries, consideration is also given to essentially new aspects of music during the earlier period since the Fourteenth Century. Complexities of modern composition become more easily understood when viewed in the light of previous attainment. The listener who wishes to hear modern music intelligently must needs be learned, for the entire world is included in the scope of modern music, not only the realm of emotion, but also the actual and the transcendental. One must be able to follow the common thread of thought and inspiration which runs through the works of Monteverde, Bach, Debussy, and Irving Berlin.
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