Is classical music dead?

No

1 of 38

by Ryan Kok

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John Adams, one of most well-known and respected composers living today, once said "There are a few dark days I feel like I am panning for gold in a river that has given it up." The debate posed above must definitely be a valid one when even famous composers of classical music will at times question their craft. And yet John Adams has created some of the greatest music ever put forth by an American composer.

But, that being said, I would be willing to bet that the majority of people reading this have never even heard of a famous living composer named John Adams. For that matter, that same set of people probably couldn't even name a single living composer, despite the fact that composers are as plentiful as ever. Those same people are probably the ones who assume classical music to be dead. They misconstrue their lack of knowledge on the subject and assume that because they hear very little about it, classical music must be dying off or dead. And yet every major city in the United States has a symphony orchestra. Every major city has an opera company. Nearly all major universities have a music program, and you can bet your life's savings that the students there sure aren't studying rap music.

Those facts alone should be enough to dissuade the average naysayer, but there are many reasons as to why some people might still incorrectly assume classical music to be dead. Two reasons in particular stand out: the complexity of 20th century classical music, and the onset of "popular music".

Classical music as we know it as actually referred to by scholars as "western art music". "Western" is because it is a creation of western Europe and its descendants (Americans). And "art music" is because it is music for the sake of art. And like other forms of art, it evolved and became consistently more complex over time. But during the beginnings of the 20th century, this evolution began to cause a bit of an uproar. Classical music began to grow so complex that listeners started to not always find it pleasing to the ear. Through careful examination and analysis of the music, one could easily see why the music being written was still of excellent quality, but the average listener and concertgoer was not typically a music conservatory scholar capable of such analysis. Composers sought only to improve upon their beloved art, but in the process of seeking ever-increasing complexity and challenging norms, those composers ended up alienating a vastly large number of listeners. Composers like Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and Ives were hailed as geniuses and yet less and less people were interested in seeing their concerts. In fact, the Paris premier of Igor Stravinsky's ballet "Le Sacre du Printemps" or "The Rite of Spring" was so controversial that it actually incited a riot as audience members argued over whether or not they were actually hearing "music"! (Ironically enough, today, The Rite of Spring is nearly universally seen as one of the most influential pieces of music ever written. As a testament to that fact, an excerpt from The Rite of Spring has been forever immortalized on the "golden records" carried by the two Voyager spacecraft as they hurtle towards the edge of our solar system and beyond.)

This concept of constantly striving for more and more complexity continued well into the mid 20th century. Composers stretched the limits of musical instruments. They incorporated recordings and electronic instruments. They blurred the line between music and math.
They experimented with alternate systems of tuning. They wrote "aleatoric" music which would sound different every time it was performed. They even wrote music that was humanly impossible to play without the aid of machines or computers. One composer, John Cage, actually wrote a piece of music that actually contains no music.
It is simply just four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence.

All of these things considered, it's no wonder that the average concertgoer stopped becoming interested in this new and often experimental classical music. Granted, there were still some great composers like Rachmaninoff who were incredibly successful, but they were typically shunned by the rank of snooty academia. In those times, accessibility and musicality were considered to be mutually exclusive. The fact that Rachmaninoff was beloved the world around meant that his music would naturally be scoffed at by critics and "serious" composers. The whole process became an incredibly destructive cycle. Classical music was literally cannibalizing itself. (Rachmaninoff, by the way, is now greatly respected the world over.)

You can naturally see now why many people would get this idea of doom and gloom for classical music, but the fact is that this concept of ever-increasing complexity actually stopped becoming popular in the second half of the 20th century. Musicality and accessibility are no longer considered to be mutually exclusive, and many composers, such as John Adams, have done what was formerly impossible: they have achieved astounding success, both critically and commercially. And with the rate that colleges and conservatories are currently pumping out musicians, talented new composers are being discovered every day. The complexity of 20th century music drove away many fans, but the emergence of "contemporary" classical music is again driving people to fill seats. Just this past January, my local symphony orchestra performed a piece by Mr. Adams and there wasn't an empty seat in the entire house. A previous concert, featuring the beloved music of Mozart, couldn't boast the same feat.

In addition to the misconception caused by public response to complex 20th century music, the onset of "popular music" in the late 1800's also directed attention away from classical music. Popular music is the term scholars use for the music that we typically hear on the radio. This includes rock, pop, country, rap, you name it. Because of the increasing complexity of classical music, it's understandable that a newer, simpler form of music would arise and overtake classical music in popularity. While composers of classical music sought to constantly improve and evolve the art, popular music had a much more simple and straight-forward purpose: It was meant to be enjoyable. You could often dance to it. It didn't require a long attention span. You could sing along with it. And most importantly, unlike classical music of the time, it didn't require a college degree to be appreciated.

Well, needless to say, popular music would go on to dominate all other forms of music, but people today assume this fact to mean that classical music must be dying off. Yet even though popular music has indeed dominated for over a century, during that entire time, classical music has existed comfortably within a thriving niche. If classical music didn't die then, surely there is no new reason for it to be dying now. The thought that popular music killed of classical is simply ignorant. Sure, I love listening to hard rock, but that has no bearing on whether or not I enjoy classical music.

The fact of the matter is that people have been proclaiming the death of classical music for more than a century. And yet every time I put on my tuxedo and step on stage to perform with my local orchestra, I see a crowd full of enthusiastic fans. I see young people; I see old people. I see families, and I see groups of friends just out for a good time. I see students studying scores, and I see people who probably wouldn't know the difference between a bassoon and a snare drum. But when the performance is over, and we exhausted musicians are taking our bows, I only see one thing: thousands of people spontaneously moved to applause, moved to cheers, and often moved to tears over the music that we have just created. And when I ride the subway train home after our concerts, people don't discuss with me the finer points of the performance. They simply thank me for the gift I have given to them, and I in turn thank them for giving me a reason to do what I do. And as long as classical music has that power, the power to give you those chills, to make goose bumps rise up on your arms, to make you utter "wow", and to cause tears to well up in your eyes, it will continue to remain relevant. If the works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven haven't yet faded into obscurity over these past 300 years, I seriously doubt that they ever will.

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