We'll know that classical music has made it back when...
Date:
09/27/2012 Contributor:
...when media discussions of "the year's music" or "the best new music" can be assumed to include classical alongside the pop, rock, r & b and other kinds.
...when the premiere of a new classical work is as eagerly anticipated and discussed as a new Paul Thomas Anderson film, Zadie Smith novel or HBO series.
...when the composer of the work gets interviewed on Fresh Air — and they replay the interview every time the piece comes out on CD, LP, DVD, 8-track tape...
...and when the presence of the new work on a concert program increases the audience, instead of reducing it.
...when no one over the age of eight needs to be taught what to expect at a classical concert, they'll just be assumed to know.
...when its practitioners and advocates can stop the special pleading about how noble and uplifting it all is, and can just go about making and enjoying it, like what happens in the other genres.
...when another classical musician as celebrated, accomplished, universal and flat-out cool as Leonard Bernstein comes along. It happened once; it could happen again.
...when the nerdy trombone player gets to date the homecoming queen. I know, this one might never happen, but one can dream...
...when its consumption (i.e., audience) in America is twice what it is now. Hey, it happened to another product of European origin, with fancy pedigree, intimidating connoisseurs, unpronounceable names, and overtones of elitism and snobbery. Why not classical music?
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Comments
...when?
...when Egyptian pyramid building has made it back?!
hey, lots of interesting thoughts in this blog.
I would add this food for thought: the list of main categories when I look to purchase music on Amazon:
alternative rock, blues, broadway + vocalists, children's, christian, classic rock, classical, country, dance + electronic, folk, gospel, hard rock + metal, jazz, latin, miscellaneous, new age, pop, r+b, rap + hip-hop, rock, soundtracks, world music.
how easy is it to notice classical in those 22 categories?
classical rulz, but a niche is a niche is a niche.
anonumass
...when the Atlanta Symphony
...when the Atlanta Symphony labor situation gets the same amount of attention as the NFL labor situation.
Maybe that will happen when a
Maybe that will happen when a replacement conductor totally botches the end of Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony — and it comes crashing back to earth.
Classical music will be back when...
...your friends don't change the topic or say cooly, "Oh, really?" when you tell them you're going out to see a classical concert.
~Julia
Ah, classical music. It's
Ah, classical music. It's so...interesting.
When classical radio
When classical radio annoucers can get their cars fixed and buy some new clothes, because public radio stations are raising more than enough money.
So, you missed out on the big
So, you missed out on the big bucks during the "dot-org" bubble, too?
I don't get the "made it
I don't get the "made it back" part...when was it here? And, yes, the Lenny days may have been the peak in my lifetime.
"The day" was here...
...basically when classical music's current elderly listeners were young listeners. When the median age of the classical audience was little more than half what it is now. When the percentage of the population who attended classical events was much higher than now. When the general culture moved easily and comfortably in the classical world, not regarding it as a fringe or elitist taste -- or worse, as an irrelevance. We may never get all the way back to that day. But unless we start to find a larger and younger audience to replace the above elders, the current situation, with declining audiences, labor strife at orchestras, market share shrinking, etc. will only get worse.