Discussion Main / AvantGardeMusic

It's not ridiculous at all. Classical composers like Varèse, Stravinsky and Xenakis are the forefathers of experimental classical music, thus of Avant-Garde Music in general. Same goes for Free Jazz artists like Coltrane and the like. That's why they are mentioned here. Björk, Pink Floyd and Radiohead have had mainstream success, but have also made alternative/avantgarde music too. In fact: it's the majority of their output. Even Frank Zappa had some mainstream notability and success, so in comparison to The Residents he would be not as avantgarde. And Beefheart has released some albums that actually sound quite accessible. But I think that would only lead us to snobbery. I consulted a few encyclopaedia on avantgarde music and these are the artists that are frequently discussed as avant-garde. I also mentioned in the article that avantgarde is a mere umbrella term for all kinds of progressive, innovative, experimental genres and mentioned those genres too: Progressive Rock, Alternative Rock, Noise Rock, ... to show that some of these artists could be listed in those categories as well. Compare it to our article Rock, which is also a general term for all kinds of subgenres. The Police is rock and Nirvana too, but there is a world of difference between their sounds.

Does that mean however that articles about experimental rock, art pop, experimental electronic and modern classical shouldn't be created? No. Of course, they can. And some artists can cross different genres too. It's not because they are pigeonholed in one genre that they cannot be included on other pages too. But watch out with the term modern classical, because even Stravinsky, Schönberg, Webern and Berg are at this point over a 100 years old. Difficult to call them modern anymore.