Re: "...The Roman Catholic church was directly responsible for destroying musical rhythms, especially in church music...Massuhdagoodname, what would you say is the step by step lineage between Bach and say Stockhausen or Boulez? Your writings seem to imply there is nothing new under the sun.
Pierre Boulez has composed music, but is better known for his conducting skills.
The Roman Catholic Church evolved into the Holy Roman Empire. It governed Europe after ancient Rome's demise, and governed as a Theocracy comparable to that in Iran today. Because of The Triune Doctrine, the Church outlawed and banned all music except that in 3/4 meter (3 representing the Holy Trinity).
Connecting the dots from Bach to Stockhausen must involve "giant steps":
Johann Sebastian Bach's body of work is called "The Tanach of Modern Western Music". Thorough knowledge of his keyboard compositions is a pre-requisite as setting the basics for all music that followed. Bach also devised the ability to transpose musical keys as well as modulate from one to another within a composition. He accomplished this by altering the pure vibrational tones found in the natural scale. The result is the music we love today, and hear as being "in tune". In fact, it is actually "out of tune". If you've ever walked past tower bells ringing, which sounded kind of "sour" and "in need of a tune-up", then you've heard the actual pure notes of nature. Prior to his genius, all musics had to begin and end in the same key structure, and were greatly limited in their harmonic development.
A giant step from J.S. Bach leads us to Ludwig Van Beethoven, whose body of piano compositions are known today as "The New Testament of Modern Western Music". Beethoven expanded the existing symphonic structure, composed radically different works, and paved the way for the musical composers of the 20th Century.
After Beethoven, another giant step over to Richard Wagner. One of history's greatest artists, Wagner developed the orchestral concept of "Polytonality"; composition unlimited in key tonality; able to begin in one key, and immediately and continuously modulate from one key to another, in an endless harmonic structure of incredible complexity and depth.
Because of Wagner, the next giant step was to be expanded by the composers known today as The Second Vienna School. These great musicians built upon all previous forms, experimenting with innovative notation, innovative scoring, and the radical Serial Composition; basing entire large scale works on scalar models derived from numerical computations; including the reliance on chance as to the placement of notes. These giants of music, among whom were many Jews, made a tremendous impact on the world of art; so much so that Hitler chased each and every one out of Europe and banned the study or performance of their music. Today the "way out" music we take for granted in science fiction movie soundtracks, and on TV scores, is very likely based on their creativie innovations.
The Second Vienna School is also associated with the modern ideas of "Electronic Composition" made quite acceptable by composer Karl-Heinz Stockhausen. Today, computer composition, as well as performance on computer generated synthesized instruments of every kind, is taken for granted.
Personally, I do indeed believe that 'there is nothing new under the Sun". This is stated in the Jewish Scriptures, and it is possible that greater and more progressive musical and technological developments than we know today, were developed by other civilizations thousands of years ago, unknown to us because they've been lost to antiquity.