ABSTRACT
The hypothesis of this chapter is, despite comments made in chapter I concerning the definition of the subject at hand, that avant-gardism as we know it is extremely present in a great deal of today’s music. What is ahead of its time is the challenge arising from various sorts of new notation and instrument techniques for contemporary musicians. In other words, the public may be tolerant of new varieties of sound materials and performance situations, but the musician is too often unable or unwilling to grasp two of the most essential breakthroughs in post-World War II music, namely the active sharing of the creative process of music-making and extending traditional instrumental practice. In the following pages these problems will be approached, first by delineating the area of concern, then by inspecting two pages of works by John Cage as an illustration of the notational challenge mentioned above, and finally by accusing the world of music education of acute stubbornness.
