Have you also noticed that the highest quality recordings are done with modern pieces? These are not very musical, not "accessible", and are certainly an acquired taste. Basically, nobody in their right mind would listen to them. Thinking of Mozart and Bach, people do listen to them all the time, even on iphones, and abysmal quality recordings. So, Bach can sell no matter what, but apparently the only attractive feature that sells modern composers is the recording quality.
The subjective statements above are oversimplifications. However, the music we listen to impacts our life, and destructive music never goes mainstream in a balanced, healthy society. When it does, there are big issues (thing about ghetto music). Baroque and classical composers composed music that is PRO LIFE. You subject plants and animals to Bach, and they grow better and get healthier. (Yes, even plants!) Kids learn faster. Injuries heal faster. Music fulfills its purpose: healing and inspiration.
However, not all music heals. When you subject animals to modern composers works, they will become restless and agitated, and heal slower. Modern music is largely PRO DECAY. XX century composers are stuck in the loop of portraying suffering, death and war on the grand scale. Abandonment, madness, extreme emotional intensity, lack of balance and measure. They open a door to their reality, how it was to live through those monstrous times that they lived in, and what was it like to suffer, to experience grief and abandonement. However, if you listen to their works, you will also be exposed to the decay, insanity and imbalance. As you get hooked on that music, you will manifest suffering in your life as a consequence.
Music acts as a tuning fork for our brains. It gives a course for your subconscious to follow. Living on Mozart brings out the creative genious, while feeding on ganxta rap brings out the desire for substance abuse, self-righteousness, abuse of women, disregard for society, and successive jail-time.
Enthusiasts of modern classical works need a good quality playback system. On a poor setup these works sound plain horrible, you need the resolution and clarity to enjoy the music theory feats and tricks employed by these works. Yet, I have just realized that very high quality playback system is good only until a certain degree. Beyond that, the work that you found previously acceptable on a very revealing system as it prodded the mathematical curiosity in your intellect, becomes unbearable when you get connected directly to the music on the emotional level. Here's my story:
Neue Wiener Schule box set 5LPs: SCHÖNBERG, BERG, WEBERN Streichquartette. LASALLE. Deutsche Grammophon 2720029. Phenomenal recording quality. Of this set, I picked Schönberg's 1st quartet in D minor. I recall giving this work a listen about two years ago. Then, I had the Soundcraftsmen Lancer speakers, and very high quality (Kimber) copper cabling (interconnects and power cords). Then, I could appreciate the recording quality and the extremely high level of interpretation by the quartet. The work itself (a thoroughbred modern piece) did not distract me that much, I was willing to put up with it just to enjoy the recording quality. However, I gave it a listen again with the VOLs, with silver interconnects from cartridge to passive preamp. The high recording quality became even more apparent, but the emotional connection to music also increased orders of magnitude. I could not bear to sit in the room to listen to this awful torment: it was as if someone was hacking my brain to pieces. So, I fled upstairs. From there, it still sounded amazingly live and direct, yet I felt more secure with the increased distance. However, it was still nerve-damaging.
When this work was made Brahms commented positively on it, and Mahler was dumbfounded that he simply can't read the score. However, nobody commented on the sheer insanity of the piece, that listening to it literally breaks your brain. If you are brave to sit the whole piece through, your life quality will be diminished substantially, and you will feel the aftereffects of the nightmare for days. You will feel as if you have been placed into a lunatic asylum for half an hour, and will be SO glad to escape when it's over! Gosh, I am so glad that I'll never have to listen to this piece EVER AGAIN! On the other hand, the audiofile in me bleeds, because the recording quality is stellar. Sigh. The other works in the set might be better suited for human brains, a shade or two closer to music that a human soul can bear, by I'm not brave enough to keep the set and accidentally put this work on again. I get chills just from the idea!
A fair warning for the brave: if you have a system that allows direct emotional connection (generally possible only at the level of carefully put together 100K$+ systems), then you will be traumatized by subjecting yourself to this piece. This might sound bad.. yet, I nudge everyone to try it out if you can, as this will be an experience you will NEVER forget. Bonus: if you like this music, then that will sneak a smile on Maestro Schönberg's eternal visage in the undying lands. Anyway, he was an absolute genius, coming up with music that is so stirring.
Indeed, some works of art should be listened to every day (Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven), while other, such as Schönberg's, once in a lifetime. Peace out, thank you Maestro for the unforgettable experience.