ABSTRACT. According to Nielsen, intervals are the elements which first arouse a deeper interest in music. Kramer stresses that the culture of classical music came to seem mandarin and out of touch. Lewis says that notes, timbre, melody, rhythm, and other musical constructs cannot function simply as ends in themselves. According to Adorno, Stravinsky's taboo on subjectivity has a liberating effect on the instruments which, instead of playing a subservient role, now begin to speak for themselves.