| I think that understanding the terms is easiest when seeing how they are applied to architecture. Historically, a modern building is comprised of various functional shapes. Post-modern architecture incorporates design elements from earlier stylistic eras (sticking doric columns on the front of a building which is otherwise just a big block of concrete and steel - often seen on banks and museums).
While aleatoric and minimalist musics did chronologically follow modernism (late 19th and early 20th centuries), hence the "post", I think it would be more correct to label works that mix stylistic and formal elements from various musical eras as "post modern".
Remember that most of the terms that are used to historically classify western art music (Baroque, Classical, Impressionist, etc.) are derrived from other disciplines (such as art) and applied after the fact.
As for the previous post, IMHO there isn't a single genre or period in the history of music that hasn't produced both the stinkers and the sublime. To each his/her own. |