Modern classical music is now well over a century old, yet it can still pose challenges-provoking difficulty, resistance, even dislike or repugnance, rather than straightforward enjoyment. This new course seeks to engage with all of these responses. It is not conventional history, but instead a series of carefully chosen examples: works of significance and substance from around 1900 to the present day. Each will be explored within its cultural context—described, evaluated, and, most importantly, heard. The principal aim is to listen together and then discuss, with conversational exchange as the central goal.