It really wasn't until the 20th Century that the idea that something already done is not worth doing again... especially after WW2. That radical notion that all new work must somehow escape or bury whatever came before obviously only carries so far... in the hugeness of human history, how much has been done, and lost again?
It may be that there really is nothing new under the sun- but to each of us, with our limited time under that sun, it's just not true. It's probably the most dedicated musicologists that'd tell you that nobody ever gets around to hearing the totality of human musical expression, so as long as each of us lives, there's always something new we haven't heard.
Someone else mentioned the possibility of instruments not even conceived of yet. Another futuristic prospect, of course, is that we will find another intelligent species out there and be able to check out THAT back catalog of music...
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