The Fredösphere

I noticed a couple of posts that are stuffed full of deep thoughts: You know me as a Haydn hater, and a nice long post by Something Old, Nothing New hasn't really changed that, but after reading it, I realize the Haydn situation is more complex than I realized.  Here are a few things we learn:

Not every Haydn symphony was intended to be a fart joke. Haydn wrote operas.  There is a reason you didn't know that. It's really all Beecham's fault.

The comments are fascinating also, since all three of them (so far) are by intelligent-sounding people who don't pay any attention to classical music.  SONN deserves a medal just for getting this trio interested. Frequently I get impatient with certain austere 20th century music, but the author of aworks loves it, and he clearly has a bigger brain than I, so maybe I should try harder to get it.  Last week he gave a respectful summary of anti-20th century stuff written by Nicholas Tawa, Richard Taruskin, and the blogger Promethean Antagonist (the last who associates atonality with nihilism, and probably war, famine, pestilence, and salt-sucking shape-shifters).  Attempts to offer a systematic theory about the avant garde, pro or con, usually disappoint.  Listen to it if you like; I only ask that you don't adopt any kind of superior pose as you do. That's why I admire aworks.  His tastes are far different than mine (Nancarrow?  Cage?????) but his enthusiasm and soft-sell promotion is hard to distrust.