I've been listening to Hector Parra's Hypermusic Prologue, a sort of
an opera about classical vs. not physics.  Since I'm lazy, I'll quote.

http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/december-2009/gallery-hypermu...

"The two characters, a soprano and a baritone, live on the same stage
and interact day to day. But the soprano is searching for change and
depth, and longs to explore higher dimensions. The baritone is
satisfied with a static world, where he remains while his companion
finally breaks through. To save the relationship, he must also make
the leap and follow her."

"The baritone's half of the stage, a static world of concrete objects
and pale colors, is ruled by classical physics. On the other half, the
soprano journeys through vibrant colors, warping shapes, and twisting
scenery."

(But in a totally unstylish gray suit.  My operatic comment: I would
have expected far better fashion sense from such a forward-thinking
opera scientist.  A swan suit by a Franco-Flemish designer, at the
very least.)

"At times, Parra's score is a collection of disjointed noises. It is
rarely melodic, and segments often stop before any kind of
recognizable song structure develops. The percussionist uses odd
instruments such as broken glass in a crystal container, wood
scratching on a chalkboard, and a makeshift instrument that sounds
like a furiously scribbling pen."

Which means that I like it.  I'll certainly take this, although I
might like it even better if it were odd instruments  minus the
flighty soprano physicist and the stodgy, grumpy baritone physicist.
(It's a baritone physicist, of course he's stodgy, gruff, and
unimaginative -- what do you excect? :)  I won't get into tenors right
now. :) )

The music is not as unmanageable or disjointed as the quoted paragraph
might say.  With odd instruments and interesting timbres, Parra
manages to be more than interesting (which would already be good
enough for me).  He uses the timbres to evoke both an unmistakeable,
familiar extramusical idea and to construct the discarded beginnings
of a sort of a Classical phrase structure.  And the phrases are quite
clear in the beginning:  they start with the sounds of a scratchy pen,
and each phrase ends with the crumpling of paper, as if throwing away
ideas (which is an idea more than familiar, actually).  (How could
this be hard to get?)

In any case, I found this entire opera enjoyable.  It's on spifity, in
case don't want to commit to any dimension involving material
possessions.

Lena

PS. I just noticed that David G. wrote about this opera in May (sorry,
this was during one of my many absences).  Anyway, I think I agree
with him, both about the descriptions and the opinions.  For
instance: