Modern classical-style composers seem so focused on carving out an original style for themselves that they tend to leave aesthetics by the wayside. I can’t see the point of this; regardless of how original one’s music is, it will never be heard if people don’t want to listen to it.

I’ve suspected for a while that this is the reason that classical and popular music began to diverge in the early 20th century, smack in the middle of the Modernist period.