Message #15868

[dholling]

I'm so glad I started this topic. It's a more far-reaching issue than simply why the Baltic and Slavic countries not promoting their music (I was thinking as a fan and a collector when I wrote this, I confess). I think SerAmantiodiNicolao in particular is on to something, in that yes, there was a snobbery, insular attitude among classical musicians (and listeners) that gave them the us versus them mentality (condescension comes to mind). But people like Leonard Bernstein and Luciano Pavarotti challenged that by making it fun and a curiosity (and those who followed portrayed Classical music as though it's more approachable than thought due to the popular misconception; think Michael Tilson-Thomas, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma). I don't think they were trying to make the genre hip, per se, but showing that it's still relevant to the human experience and that it transcends. Their efforts paid off, even though it remains an uphill battle (there's simply a plethora of musical types and genres worldwide). But Classical music remains as viable as ever and I don't see it dying anytime soon. It's a matter of re-invention and remaining vigilant in putting the music out there, via performances, via recordings, via discussions and sharing ideas and thoughts.

I grew up in a home where music was inseparable to my family's daily life (not Classical music though (or even Jazz), but Disco, Reggae, Soul, R&B, later Hip Hop). I got hooked onto Classical music and later Jazz due to curiosity (thanks to enterprising radio stations in NYC such as WNCN and WQXR). Bruckner's 2nd and 3rd Symphonies floored me, and so I ventured on to his other symphonies and religious works. Glazunov's 2nd then his 6th Symphonies had a grip on me in ways I did not imagine, and so I likewise explored his music further. Same with Bax, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, and later the Soviets, the Scandinavians (Nielsen was among my first loves), and so forth. Music transcends and finds its audience, that's it. What we do to it is another matter.

Jolly Roger states that "we are in the midst of a dramatic decline in the quality of Western Civilization and music is not exempt." Well, I think the qualities of life, creative thinking, the art of argument and articulation, human interaction, etc. are lessening in much of the globe. You could read any articles on online newspapers and how many people argue their positions is (often) quite frightening. The era of new ideas and experimentation that would wow society (and societies) is long behind us, by and large. So, we're in a standstill right now. We must not forget that today's world is very much unpredictable (much of it due to the global economy). What comes next and what the world will yield are up in the air. But as seen time and time again, mankind is resilient and inventive, even if the glory years (as far as musical art is concerned) remain in the past.