# What does the future hold for classical music?



## nosmelc (Aug 22, 2011)

nosmelc said:


> Last year witnessed the death of New York's only commercial classical radio station.
> New York, the cultural capitol of the U.S.? the public radio station that has taken over the letters: WQXR and moved it down the dial, plays an even tamer repertoire than its, for hire, predecessor. orchestras live on handouts, without which they would die at a time when the loudest voices scream for tax cuts. before this picture get too gloomy let me conclude with a vision is of the future filled with amateur musicians and composers who love and respect the music simply :tiphat:for what it is capable of.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

dunno what's the future, don't have a looking-glass!

as far as my own patronage of live music here goes (referring to your mention of amateur musicians) i see quite a range of groups here, from amateur, semi-professional to professional (& often a combination of all these in the same orchestra under a pro conductor). these, and the numerous smaller groups here, presenting interesting & varied repertoire, get my "vote," not some of the "flagship" groups that are beholden to the "hard" conservatives' agendas, the focus on repertoire almost exclusively from c.1800-c.1900, because of course, everyone knows that the "best" music is from that period, and to top this all off, they usually only play the "war-horses" not much else, anything else is like a "token."

anyway, for classical music to survive it has to reach out for the middle ground, which is the vast majority of listeners. not the extremes on either side, the "hard" conservatives being the most vocal and worst of those. those who can push & shove with thier elbows always seem to get their way, but not for long, i hope. many of the concerts i attend by smaller groups with more imaginative programming have full houses, or almost that. most listeners are sick to death of all the old cliches. they want variety, old and new, known and unknown, or lesser known. these flexible, middle ground people, stay for the whole concert, unlike the "hard" conservatives who always walk out, esp. during interval & never come back, if say a shostakovich or even mahler or r. strauss symphony or other work is played in the second half. they just leave en masse, revealing their lack of understanding of the "basics," the "guts" of music appreciation across the board. we don't need to listen to these people, orchestra boards shouldn't be beholden to them, these people are basically very limited and limiting for the classical music industry. they are bad news.

in short, the "middle ground" is the "silent majority," but unfortunately they are being swamped by the extremist monument builders and groupies, esp. the "hard" conservatives. i don't mind middle of the road conservatives at all, it's the "hard" ones i think are just on another planet.

ok rant (whether relevant or not?) over. over & out...


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

I think there's something "cyclical" about this. As the economy goes through a rough patch, so does every household's "discretionary spending", which includes buying CDs and going to concerts. 

We are also seeing major "cultural" institutions struggling through ecomomic woes of their own, most notably the Philadelphia Orchestra (I posted an article about this recently on the "Conductors" sub-forum). Governments and businesses (sponsors) are making hard choices on where to spend their money, and these institutions are often on the losing end.

I don't know how much this addresses the question at hand, but it is certainly part of the equation. 

My observation of North-American Arts "patronage" (in all its forms) also appears to be cyclical. When RCA went to the FCC in the late 1930's, it pledged to form a Symphony Orchestra as part of renewing its broadcasting license for the then-recently born NBC network... You would be surprised (if you allow yourself the time to browse through YouTube) how much of the "Golden Age of Radio" and the "Golden Age of Television" was dedicated to Arts programming - now the business of specialty channels in the 1000-channel digital broadcasting universe! Arts channels have to compete with Cooking, DIY, gossip and hoarding shows... And who could forget Extreme Couponing!

Another issue is music (and arts) education, and how much it has "suffered" in recent years as School authorities wrestle with shrinking budgets and changing priorities (like Sports...). Maybe the "Glee phenomenon" will help get more music and arts programs re-established.

Without music education, we lose a generation of potential "patrons".

My thoughts, not necessarily yours!


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

liked your post itywltmt.



itywltmt;bt667 said:


> ...Without music education, we lose a generation of potential "patrons"...


reminds me, i was browsing a second hand book sale last week and they were selling these text-books designed for primary school kids in the 1950's or '60's. each book (not very thick) covered ten or so short classical pieces in terms of basic history, theory, context, etc. there was a wide range of pieces/composers, from ancient to modern. obviously, this was a kind of "listening guide" for primary/grade school kids. as you say, post-war there was a kind of interest in classical music, as well as the arts in general. opening them up to the broader public. now we've kind of lost that sense of optimism & sharing. this is a real pity, not only in terms of this, but many other things...


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## nosmelc (Aug 22, 2011)

my vision of a world of dedicated amateurs will only come about after the professional orchestras have gone out of business to the extent that, aside from the most popular ones in the largest markets, classical music is gone from the playing field; a point where most of us will not be able to hear the music live unless we make it ourselves. 
lovers of classical music are a miniscule part of the market and cannot sustain it in its current grandiose forms without tax dollars from people who couldn't care less. this is not a situation that can go on forever, nor should it.


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## nosmelc (Aug 22, 2011)

i am confused. the top of this page seems to say that this is my blog? I did not ask the question, merely responded to it. i don't know how to begin anything.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

nosmelc;bt672 said:


> my vision of a world of dedicated amateurs...a point where most of us will not be able to hear the music live unless we make it ourselves.


well that's how it kind of was in the western world before television came in. most middle class homes were said to have a piano, around which the family would gather to sing. many times, the "repertoire" was from classical musicians of the day, eg. george gershwin; or of yesteryear such as schubert. it is true, we have largely lost this sense of music being done by amateurs "on the ground."



> ...lovers of classical music are a miniscule part of the market and cannot sustain it in its current grandiose forms without tax dollars from people who couldn't care less. this is not a situation that can go on forever, nor should it.


well, i think things can change & are changing. talking of amateurs, i often see them here in concert playing alongside semi professional & professional musicians, under the baton of a "pro" conductor. i think it's these "grass-roots" groups that may well be the "future" - or at least a big part of "the future" - of classical music. Funnily enough, these groups tend to offer more interesting programs than our ossified and calcified "flagship" groups, who tend to cater for certain "hard" conservative cliques.

basically, classical music will survive if it is opened up to the vast majority of listeners who are in the "middle ground" part of the spectrum. if it tries to cater for certain cliques, restriction and ossification will occur, the "museum" effect. contrary to what the "hard" conservative ideologues say - & have said for ages, theirs is an ago old cliched mantra - classical music is a living art, not a dead one. it's strength is in regeneration and redefinition, not stagnation. if the former is encouraged and the latter thrown in the trash can where it belongs, there will be a bright future ahead for classical music, imo. i'm seeing aspects of this here already...


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