# dissonant and constant in the same piece?



## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)

is there a piece like that?


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## PianoMan (Mar 13, 2005)

Pretty much every piece ever written from the Baroque on has dissonances that resolve to consonances, so I think you're going to have to be more specific than that. Are you asking if there are any pieces that are overtly dissonant, almost like a cacophony, but also have more pleasant consonant sections? Carl Vine's Piano Sonata No. 1 springs to mind:


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Pretty much any symphonic work written from the mid-20th century on has a large percentage of dissonance, and many of them resolve to consonance quite nicely. I was just listening yesterday (again) to one of my favorites that fits this description - Malcom Arnold's Second Symphony.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

On a mere technical point, anything past unison Gregorian chant fits that definition. The Baroque composer Jean-philippe Rameau is noted for use of dissonance, within the context of baroque style. In their turn, both Mozart and Beethoven were relatively 'dissonant,' and thought of as such by their contemporaries.

But... to your real quest.

I'd name the neoclassical style of the early 20th century, and its subsequent and later 'practitioners' as THE place to satisfy that particular thirst.

Stravinsky - Grand-daddy of neoclassical:
Concerto in EB - Dumbarton oaks









Concerto in D for String Orchestra - especially the outside 1st and 3rd movements.









Samuel Barber ~ Capricorn Concerto -- _his only neoclassical piece,_ and a nice one it is 





Alfredo Casella: Concerto per quartetto d'archi op.40b

















Bohislav Martinu ~ wrote a lot, many nice pieces from this composer.
Toccata et due canzoni, I - Toccata




Sinfionetta 'La Jolla'





Darius Milhaud:
La Creation du Monde




Petit Symphony No. 1 "Printemps"





Arthur Berger - Duo for Cello and Piano (1951) 





Irving Fine - Notturno for Strings and Harp









George Rochberg ~ Symphony No. 1





Luigi Dallapiccola: Piccolo Concerto per Muriel Couvreux





Lukas Foss ~ Night Music for John Lennon









Walter Piston ~ Concerto for String Quartet and orchestra





Luciano Berio ~ and early work from a young Berio, [Berio is the 'newest' of the above lot of composers, (now deceased)] a neoclassical and serial work - charming bit of 'magic'
Concertino, for violin, clarinet, harp string orchestra and cele





So, 1920, thereabouts, to the present day, there is a large body of repertoire, a wide array of style and language, 'generally more conservative' than the 'avant garde' in the musical approach. Much of it, I believe, was dismissed as 'less sensational.' Some decades later, much of what was then composed is coming to be played, and appreciated for what it is - some damn fine music which was 'just not revolutionary.'


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