Hold the funeral...

Another Sunday. Another New York Times piece decrying the state of classical music. Or rather reviewing a book decrying the state of classical music, specifically Lawrence Kramer's "Why Classical Music Still Matters," which seems to be sort of a primer in the skills of listening to complex composed music and a eulogy at the funeral of a great tradition. The key passage from Edward Rothstein's review:

What has changed is not how much the tradition means to its devotees, but how little it means to everyone else. From being the center of cultural aspiration, art music has become almost quaintly marginal; from being the hallmark of bourgeois accomplishment (“Someday you’ll thank me”), music lessons have become optional attempts at self-expression; from appearing on newsmagazine covers, maestros now barely rate boldface in gossip columns.

Prescriptions have been plentiful, but so many years have gone by without significant music education in the schools and musical commitment in the homes, and so many ears have gotten used to different sounds and minds to different frames of references, that the question has changed from “What can be done?” to “Why should anything be done at all?”

Why, in other words, should we care? After decades of arguments asserting that different cultures just have different ways of expressing themselves, that distinctions and assertions of value are tendentious, and that Western art music deserves no pride of place in a multicultural American society, it may be that even the problem is no longer clearly seen. The premises have shifted.

Unfortunately I don’t think the answers Mr. Kramer gives will make the difference, if any answers even can. Mr. Kramer — who teaches English literature and music at Fordham University and whose lyrical and suggestive studies of music and 19th-century culture have been fascinating contributions to recent musicology — sees the problem clearly enough. But in trying to explain the value of this repertory and its unique status he writes more like an introverted lover than an extroverted judge, more like someone gazing at its marvels from within than someone determined to articulate its virtues to a skeptical outside world.

The key here is to read this in the context of the posts from Matt and Matt immediately below. If college students who don't have a background in classical music per se but who like music can find themselves on the edge of their seats at a classical performance, then clearly one core challenge is to win converts in the concert hall. Which means the challenge is to get them in the hall. That's 90% of the battle. One reason I belive in the NCO is that getting to one of their shows seems like a perhaps less formal, intimidating prospect than a full symphony performance. It's as much of a hang as a concert. More on this as the year unfolds...

Comments

[Clyde Rolston]

Classical music, like wine and, dare I say it, beer, is an acquired taste. Most college students learned to like beer with their friends, or perhaps because of their friends. The same will be true for orchesteral music. If we can get a core group of college age fans attending regularly they will bring their friends. The NCO, with its diverse offerings, is the perfect bridge to take a young audience from pop to traditional classical music.