Is Classical Music dead??

"Our culture, over a long span of time, has lost interest in classical music"

A very scary thought to people like me, who could not live in a world without music.Is this true?There was a time, 1980s to be precise, when Time and Newsweek both had full-time classical music writers. Now they hardly write about classical music at all.Nowadays you would be inclined to think if you approached the average citizen on any street and asked them, "What's you favorite type of music?" their answer wouldn't be, "Classical music". You might think this would hold especially true in the United States. Because of this, and the seemingly lack of "new" classical music some would assert classical music is dead.
Maybe people have become too simple in their thinking and perhaps TV is to blame for this. People have become passive listeners, rather than active listeners. For many people, rock is easier to listen to. Rock is very simple music. Most songs are made up of a standard three chord progression. Then a melody is sung over the progression.It is the melody, that I think is the creative part of rock. is what people remember, when they think of the song later on after hearing it. SO, if a rock composer writes a good melody, it will likely be a hit. The words dont even matter that much.Rock music tends to lack the mental effort of comprehension. However this does not mean that people who listen to rock music are stupid :).They are people who simply want to enjoy their music. I see them as wanting to relax to it, not wanting to be 'discerning' and analytical.
But in classical...a theme is introduced, it is stated, developed, recapitulated, etc. which takes more genius to compose then a rock song does.The way non-classical music is written has a completely different set of esthetic principles and rules that govern form and content- for instance, counterpoint and polyphony has been given up for almost exclusive homophony in most new forms of music. I think that the new forms of music that arose in the twentieth century are just that: new. Although they arose from what we consider the "Western World", these musics cannot be analyzed and contextualized from a classical standpoint. They aren't really related to classical music in the sense that they utilize some sort of watered down simple version of classical theory. Rock musicians certainly use the triad, but the rules of resolution and voice leading are completely different. Any mainstream (and even most niche) popular music just doesn't conform to classical standards.

There are hundreds of intelligent people who do not listen to classical music, and sometimes don't listen to any music at all. Often people take an interest in classical music because they have learnt an instrument and consequently been exposed to it in more depth than they otherwise would .There is also the opinion that classical music is for an "elite". Many people who do not belong to the 'elite' do not feel identified at all with this type of music. Such is the case of opera. Opera is viewed by many as a dinosaur. It is rather difficult to translate this old art form into our modern lives. One needs to have time and motivation to listen to opera, let the music and stage play capture ones imagination and escape for a few hours into a different world. One should not forget that most of the classical music was written when there was no TV, Radio and movie theatre available for people to be entertained with.
There is the factor of language and immediacy. Many operas are not written in English, and the language is an obstacle to the complehension of an english-speaking public. Furthermore, Europeans can relate much easier to classical music since it forms part of their own roots, of their past. Many works are shown in theaters and salons which are the original ones where works were performed hundreds of years ago. There is a strong link to the past and an identification with it that here in the U.S. we simply do not have.
People seem to be in touch with classical music in Europe more so than in the U.S.In Germany, for instance, the festivals and concerts that showcase classical music are ubiquitous, especially in summer.Do Germans appreciate classical music much more than Americans? Let us not forget that the government in Germany spends a lot on the arts, and to study in Germany as a music student is completely FREE. It's why so many Australians prefer to get free tuition in Germany, instead of paying US$30,000 for tuition in the US. . The student festivals in the US hardly get any press attention.
The question isn't whether people don't value extremely well written, beautiful music- it's that they value a different kind of music entirely. Perhaps young people do not attend for the same reason most Americans don't attend classical Indian concerts.
The problem, though, is that it's the concert audience that keeps classical music afloat financially, and if the concert world shrinks, classical musicians are going to have a hard time making a living. Is Classical music a dying art, with all these orchestras folding and going bankrupt? Is the classical music audience disappearing ?
Some studies suggest that the classical audience has moved. They are not going to concerts at Philharmonic Hall, but listening to concerts the next day on their iPods. They get to listen to the music (whenever they want, at a reasonable price) without having to endure the rigid social scene where you can't applaud but the eighty-year-old next to you can snore.
Classical music holds a joy which should be shared and promoted.Unfortunately we have not exposed people at a young age to classical music. That is where it starts. It is sort of like not teaching someone to read until high school and expecting them to appreciate Shakespeare. Where do kids ever get a chance to hear classical music nowadays?Those born after late boomers, say in the 60s and 70s didn't benefit from the media exposure and also lacked arts education in school. But the boomers had children and we took them to museums, theatre and the arts. Not to the same degree, but you do see these young adults in the audience. Check out the audience in LA with Salonen or Atlanta with Spano; maybe even St. Louis with Robertson. Ticket sales are up over 10% this year at the Metropolitan Opera because of all the fanfare.And of course the audience for radio and recordings is larger than the concert audience. So there is hope.
Furthermore the growth of availability of recordings has to be a factor in deciding the size of the "classical music audience" - especially with the advent of downloadable music, I think you'll find the absolute audience size for classical music has substantially increased over the years. Consider for example the huge numbers downloading Beethoven from the BBC.
Live performances of Beethoven's first five symphonies, broadcast as part of The Beethoven Experience on BBC Radio 3, have amassed an incredible 657,399 download requests during a week long trial.
The downloads – launched on 6 June - offered complete Radio 3 programmes containing live performances of the symphonies by the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.
Roger Wright, Controller of Radio 3, said: "The response has been incredible and much bigger that we expected.
"The success shows Beethoven's enduring appeal and we hope this will encourage new audiences to explore online classical music."
Simon Nelson, Controller of BBC Radio & Music Interactive, said: "This trial was all about gauging listeners' appetite for downloads and the results are astonishing.
"We are hopeful that we have attracted people who wouldn't previously have explored much classical music, as well as inspiring others to embrace digital technology."
The downloads were available for seven days after their broadcast (Symphonies 1 and 3 from Monday 6 June and Symphonies 2, 4 and 5 from the following day), as well as available streamed for seven days from the BBC Radio Player. They were available free of charge and therefore not eligible for the Official UK Download or Top 40 Singles charts, although the public’s enthusiasm for the programmes is evident from the individual totals: Symphony 1 (6 to 13 June) - 164,662; Symphony 2 (7 to 14 June) - 154,496; Symphony 3 (6 to 13 June) - 89,318; Symphony 4 (7 to 14 June) - 108,958 ;Symphony 5 (7 to 14 June) - 139,905.
Some classic musical festivals offer today live performances of operas and classical concerts to the broad public on big screens But in all fairness the recording industry has created a really affordable way of viewing operas in creating a vast amount off recordings of operas on DVD and VHS. One can rent many of these recordings even through public libraries or you can find affordable copies on e-bay.


This piece has been researched and compiled from various sources in the web including forums and individual opinions;if anyone objects to their opinion appearing here,it will be deleted upon request.