What hell is going on with classical music?

Yeah, what about it? I think one of the problems is the definition of it. Let's say you like some music you hear, it's not pop music, it doesn't sound like Bach or Mozart, it probably could have been written the last few years. What do you call it? How do you describe it to your friends?

uh... I heard this song and it was cool. I think it sounded like that... you know, uh....

I usually find myself listening some version of this conversation talking to friends and family. How can we describe something that we cannot categorize? The language we are using cannot adequately describe the new music that we listen too. This probably comes from a few different problems.

1. Classical Music.

Does this actually describe anything? It has become such a generic term for artsy music for anything can be called classical music. Ignoring the fact that it is a historical term that describes a period of time, it is probably the most abused term for describing music. If you think about it there really are only 3 types of music that are out there, art, pop, and folk. Every genre is really just a subcategory. What are there functions? Quoting very loosely from the harvard dictionary of music,

art-music meant to be contemplated, played by professionals, listen to by an audience

pop-music for enjoyment, played by professionals, listened to by an audience

folk-music meant for ritual and ceremony, no audience, everybody participates

Obviously there are many crossovers in these categories but wouldn't it be easier to define music by it's purpose and function. Classical music is really art music, a music that is meant to be listened to, contemplated, reviewed, critiqued and criticized. I think the audience needs to realize a that concert does not function like a magazine or a summer movie blockbuster. It is more like a good book, art film, or nice meal. Everyday life is filled with entertainment and simple diversion. I look at the concerts I put on as the latter. Still a nice diversion from daily life, but something that you can contemplate and come back to.

next up... the nuclear bomb and 'modern music'

sheepheads

hello to all,

this blog is my daily musings about creating music, running a ensemble and trying to be a human being in los angeles.

today is a good example... i met with a record producer (Ronan Chris Murphy), not to promote my music, but to get some advice about what I am doing. Ronan has a very successful history making records with groups prog-rock groups like King Crimson...
www.venetowest.com Anyhow we both have in common a love of the minimalist/ postmodern music of Philip Glass, Steve Reich , Terry Riley, and Michael Nyman. Its not that often you meet somebody who is in the music business that has similar tastes as well as can talk in detail about the obscure ravi shankar/philip glass movie score in 1968.

So we went out to lunch and I was hoping(as I usually am) for some great insight to my music and how to promote it better. I sure got it (although I wasn't really looking for something this hard). Essentially, Ronan explained that art music(my new term to explain any music to be contemplated (look it up in the harvard dictionary) is like taking a friend to eat sheep head. You see your Icelandic friend and your afghan friends chewing down, but you can't really bring yourself to try it. Once you take a bite, it is delicious, but how do you get girlfriend to try it on a date? That is the problem for "art" music these days. The people that come to the concerts usually enjoy them, but how do we get them to love sheep head.

there are other main problems about art music today, but first up is getting people to love sheep head