Tuesday, October 20, 2015
The lost art of listening: Has classical music become irrelevant?
The Monthly: Sometimes, while performing the Funeral March from Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, I am struck by the fact that everyone in the auditorium is marching towards death at the exact tempo of the piece: 54 crotchets per minute or thereabouts, one foot in front of the other, until by movement’s end we are eight minutes closer to our collective destination.
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I found this very interesting because this isn't something I ever think about, despite the fact that I played classical guitar for years. I always just thought that classical music was for chamber ensemble competitions or when I wanted to make sure I still remembered how to play every once in a while. My response to this author is that I think that there will be a resurgence of interest in classical music somewhere down the road, just like different genres or styles go in and out with the trends of the times. The thing about classical music that makes it different from something that has experienced this rebirth, like jazz or bluegrass, is that it isn't just a sound but a collection of creators as well. This will raise some questions: can you have classical music without Mozart, Bach, or Beethoven? Will the new classical be entirely new pieces, or will it go back to the (for lack of a better word) classics? I think that while the format or artist can change, the feel of classical music will never completely go away.
Our society’s disinterest in classical music is yet another symptom of our disinterest in the arts. This is understandable, as technological innovations create a plethora of distractions. However, there is an extraordinary amount of worth in classical music. This genre differs from others in that it uses “traditional” instruments and it possesses an inherent complexity and depth. Its roots are in sacred music; thus classical music has the capability to communicate in a deeply emotional manner. Go someplace quiet, listen to Samuel Barber’s Agnus Dei or Allegri’s Miserere in its entirety, and you will understand. A piece of classical music is a collection of threads of sound methodically woven to produce a rich and meaningful piece of art. With something as pure and simple as a monophonic chant or something as dissonant and convoluted as an Eric Whitacre piece, classical music has great artistic merit. It’s unfortunate that today’s current society seems too distanced from the arts to realize the profound effect this music can have. There’s a fairly simple reason that music over 1500 years old is still being performed regularly: it has significant meaning (and I use that word in its least rigorous definition). I completely understand why current pop music is, well, popular. It’s catchy, but it’s fleeting (with little exception). It rarely discusses issues of importance, and often promotes unwise thought and behavior. Also, if you take just 20 seconds to analyze most current songs, it’s maddening to discover how simple they are musically. Notice how we refer to a current pop track as a “song,” but it just sounds wrong calling Brahm’s Requiem a bunch of “songs.” We call it a “work.” A work of art. Classical music is not and will never be irrelevant because it captures and shares the human experience in a pure and easily relatable manner.
I have to say... I disagree with this article entirely. I mean yes I'm sure that less young people are attending classical concerts- this just made me want to go attend one to scream out "no we are still listening!" the author focuses on how technology is bringing us further away from classical music by distracting us? that is simply not true, as with programs like spotify, classical music is easier to access then ever.
and I disagree wholeheartedly with her anger towards film about portraying classical music in a bad light. does it matter what films SAY about classical, when the film scores behind it speak a thousand times louder. film scores are guiding classical music and musicians into a new world. artists like Michael Giacchino and Hans Zimmer are creating beautiful music to accompany film as Tchaikovsky and Mozart accompanied ballet and opera in the past. this new generation of composers is no different, and they are incorporating new technology in it. I know many young people who are avid fans of Zimmer and his predecessors like John Williams and Bernard Hermann. does the author not see that classical music is living alive and well in the heart of film?
any negative attitude any claim that "something is dying", "technology is ruining this", makes me believe that the author is spiteful at a changing world. people still love classical music, and yes children still learn to play instruments. but yes, it is evolving and the author needs to learn and evolve with that, or continue to shake her fist at youth.
Classical music is something that I simply enjoy listening to-I played in my high school's orchestra for four years but never felt any desire to become a good musician-I just liked listening to the music that we played, even when it sounded terrible. A lot of my friends in high school were in the choir as well, which was much better than the orchestra, and I always went to all of their concerts to both support my friends and to just listen to their music. It's a very simple pleasure of mine and it allows me to quietly sit back and listen for a while. I'm hoping to be able to attend the Vocal Performance majors' Mozart scenes concert this week, and I definitely want to be able to attend more School of Music events while I'm here.
Last year I was in a class called "Passport to the Arts" which took the students through each respective area of the arts and gave us a chance to experience it. For each area, a professor or artist would come to speak to us about what we could expect to see and about their field. Music's presentation revolved around what is "new" classical music, and exploring the possibility of something completely unseen before with an orchestra and other new media aspects. We were all given the opportunity to hear a performance by the CMU student composers, who had all written something that explored the "new" sound. However, when my classmates came back from the concert the consensus was that the music just wasn't very good. In this I see what will keep classical music alive: the deep connection that we have with music and the emotional narrative that classical music provides is something that we can all appreciate and understand on a deep level...if we take the time to listen.
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