Here We Go Again – Journalist Writes Obituary for Classical Music

If you read Mark Vanhoenaker in Slate Magazine, you learn all kinds of stuff, such as why movie theaters don’t have reserved seating, why the American way of using a knife and fork is inelegant, and why public toilet seats are U-shaped.  These are important topics for human beings to ponder. So, when he writes a Requiem claiming “Classical music in America is dead,” you know we have to pay attention.  I hope the thousands and thousands of professional musicians who are making a living at it will find out in time to get other jobs.

We go through this every year.  Someone measures a decline in audience numbers or observes a sea of gray hair at a concert, and it’s curtains for the entire art form.

Classical music has been circling the drain for years, of course. There’s little doubt as to the causes: the fingernail grip of old music in a culture that venerates the new; new classical music that, in the words of Kingsley Amis, has about as much chance of public acceptance as pedophilia; formats like opera that are extraordinarily expensive to stage; and an audience that remains overwhelmingly old and white in an America that’s increasingly neither. Don’t forget the attacks on arts education, the Internet-driven democratization of cultural opinion, and the classical trappings—fancy clothes, incomprehensible program notes, an omerta-caliber code of audience silence—that never sit quite right in the homeland of popular culture.

Vanhoenaker goes on to cite the usual statistics – a decline in concert attendance, bankruptcies by certain orchestras, a decline in classical radio stations, the expense of tickets, and the elitism of orchestra and opera audiences.  Yawn.

Perhaps for a different viewpoint we should question the assumption that classical music was always popular, that music education was always available in the schools, or that previous generations were better at supporting opera companies and orchestras.

Modern orchestras , for example, have really only been around for 200 years, and have rarely or never been self-supporting.  The history of classical music is largely the history of patronage.  In the 17th and 18th centuries, classical music was supported by the Church or by royalty.  In modern times, support in Europe has come largely from governments, while in the U.S., it’s been mostly by individuals and corporations.   You should see the gyrations Handel went through to promote his own music in the 18th century, despite having a pension from the King.

There’s never been a generation in classical music where musicians were able to find full employment.  Except for the top echelon of soloists and orchestra players, musicians everywhere have always had to piece together a living.

Radio has taken the place of a lot of live music, offering music for free, 24/7.  Add the internet and a blossoming of other available entertainments and it’s no surprise that concert attendance is down.  You can also look at audience fatigue.  If 9 subscription concerts a year are good for an orchestra, then 10 must be even better, right?  I’m looking at a folder on my desk right now that has appeals for money from more than 50 organizations.  In Seattle we have some 20 early music organizations that compete for the same specialized audience and more than 200 choirs that give public concerts.  So many options!

Not only that, but we are the first generation to have more than 1000 years of classical music history to choose from.  One men’s choir in Seattle sings just ancient chant.  The Medieval Women’s Choir sings just medieval music.

Some 500 radio stations across the country play classical music, but that’s a drop in the bucket compared to how much you can find online.

I would make two other points without belaboring the issue: 1) don’t tell the Asians that classical music is dead.  There is a fantastic boom in western classical music going on in Asian countries, and 2) don’t tell all the young people coming out of the conservatories that classical music is dead.  The U.S. has always placed high value on innovation; why would you think this talented new generation won’t figure out how to captivate us all over again?  Have you ever listened to music by Mason Bates or heard Brooklyn Rider play with Bela Fleck?

The glass-half-empty, sky-is-falling, doomsday-ers suffer from a lack of vision and faith in human ingenuity.  Name me a rock tune that has survived as long as a Bach chorale, or a football hero who will be as revered 200 years from now as Beethoven is.  Classical music will certainly long outlive the authors who keep writing its obituary.