Chapter 15, Opera and Music Drama and Chapter 16, Contemporary Music, and Chapter 17, Film Music Summary and Analysis

Copland addresses the fact that many people don't understand contemporary music or at least claim that they don't understand it. The author asserts that one of the main problems is that people tend to lump modern music into one category when it is not possible to do so, at least not accurately. An example of this may be putting all classical music in the same category with opera; rockabilly in the same category as heavy metal. Although the styles may be loosely connected, they are clearly not the same and therefore each should be placed into its own category. The author believes that some people may claim to be confused by certain types of music because they...