Jonathan Kramer - postmodern music theory

"the idea that postmodernism is less a surface style or historical period than an attitude". Kramer says there are 16 characteristics of postmodern music:

1. Is not simply a repudiation of modernism or its continuation, but has aspects of both a break and an extension

2. Is ironic

3. Blurs boundaries between past and present

4. Challenges style barriers, including 'high' and 'low'

5. Shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity

6. Questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist and populist values

7. Avoids totalizing forms

8. Considers music as relevant to cultural, social, and political

9. Includes music of many cultures and traditions

10. Considers technology as a way to distribute music and enhance production

11. Accepts contradictions

12. Questions binary opposites

13. Includes fragments and breaks or gaps

14. Encloses plural and multiple sources

15. Has multiple meanings

16. Locates meaning and structure to listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers