The 1950s were tumultuous years.  Americans discovered psychotherapy and having a nervous breakdown was fashionable. Cars grew exuberant tailfins. Sputnik orbited visibly overhead. Everybody was taking essentially pointless IQ tests. The Cold War was on and...

Most young people, at some point in their education about music, learn about the harmonic trick of Tristan. What a discovery! They’ll look at you and discourse about how Wagner refused to resolve to the tonic until the very end of the opera, about how he used that...