There are people who demand beauty, calm, and harmony in music – a demand that is perfectly understandable. I am talking about classical music, leaving other “musics” aside just now. I often hear people say, “When I go to a concert, I like to have the music wash over me. It relaxes me, takes my cares away. It settles me down.” They speak of music almost as if it were a sedative.

Dissonance, on the other hand, is often disturbing. It prickles and piques, rather than soothes.