Posted by Rick Denney on March 18, 2003 at 14:39:10:
In Reply to: Re: a pause for thought (my two bits) posted by Rex Roeges on March 18, 2003 at 11:27:28:
I'm not sure that orchestras should hitch their wagon too closely to the rock-and-roll model. Popular music has changed a hundred times in the last hundred years, but orchestral music written 50 years ago is still called "modern." It would be hard to compete against rock.
The notion that classical music has never attracted more than the well-educated few is a reality we need to face. That doesn't mean the death of classical music, we hope, but it does mean that we are realistic about defining and developing our audience.
For me, music is mostly a participant sport. I never appreciated Brahms's Second Symphony until I had a chance to perform it. I think orchestral music would greatly benefit from more transcriptions in band programs instead of the latest sweatshop contest showpiece.
I completely agree with you that people are over-stimulated. But that over-stimulation forces them to be more discerning, at least according to their own measure of discernment. People talk about sleeping through classical concerts, but then stare in open-mouthed awe at a movie with a suberb orchestra soundtrack. The fellow across the hall from me has the music from Lord of the Rings playing over his Internet connection as we speak. He is anything but a classical music nut, but that music conjures up important images for him. This is a step in the right direction, if we will exploit it.
The trick is to transform that connection to fine orchestral music that he appreciates at the movie house with fine orchestral music that doesn't come with visual images. A starting point is the same music. Why don't professional orchestras play more moview scores? They call them pops, but I can say with confidence that today's finest composers are devoting their energies to movie scores, because that's where the money is. If orchestra music survives another 100 years, our period will be remembered for its movie scores. But musicians, conductors and symphony societies won't play movie music because it is too commercial. In this case, they need to go back to the 18th century, at least. Mozart would laugh at the snobbishness of modern musical people who eschew music that violated their sense of art by actually making money. Sure, he believed in his art, but he wanted to be paid for it, too.
But back to the reality of our limited appear: We don't need an audience that crosses all social and educational boundaries. No symphony can be heard by an audience of 50,000, so comparisons with the Rolling Stones aren't particularly relevant. What we need is a good solid base of younger folks; folks who already listen to and enjoy orchestral music. Maybe we need are movies with live soundtracks, and multimedia movie presentations with live music, mixed in with regular stuff. There are lots of ideas, but few willing to make them happen.
Rick "who still recalls the thrill of watching Alexander Nevsky with a live orchestra providing the soundtrack--to an uncharacteristically full house" Denney