Can or should classical music be 'popular'?, Future of classical music Options

[TomRegelski]

Recently Greg has been discussing the question of whether or not classical music could or should be popular and, thus, entertaining There are those, of course, who follow Schoenberg in believing that "art is not for all, and if it is for all, it is not art." These esthetes, thus, define 'value' at least in part by how accessible music is. Thus, the more popular (e.g., Bolero, Carmina Burana) the less musically valuable music is--the more it leans towards "entertainment." Greg and correspondents discuss whether the distinction between "art" and "entertainment" is (or ever was) viable, or makes any sense in the current world of music.

There are those, then, who think that such a 'heavy' approach to classical music--one that denies "entertainment" as an attraction or value--is what dooms it to its current self-declared elite status, one that drips with snobbery, one that thus fails to attract new (especially young) listeners who might 'grow' into' a taste for a wide variety of 'classical' offerings.

Cited in a recent part of Greg's blog at ArtsJournal.com, is a film clip of Giles Apap, in concert, with an 8 minute plus improvised final cadenza to Mozart's Violin Concerto #3 that, to say the least, makes a major departure from tradition by including gestures and language from a wide variety of styles, much to the appreciation of both the audience and orchestra.

I have the feeling Mozart would have approved; no doubt, many esthetes and Mozart cognoscenti will wholeheartedly disapprove. What do music educators think?

See the clip, at (and, after redirection, at the site, there is a second, shorter clip as well):


link removed - porn

Whatever one judges concerning the approrpriateness of these performances, one has to wonder how such an accomplished musician has come to this kind of performing? Does he, like Yo Yo Ma, find value in these 'popular' (exoteric) musics, or is he just pandering to entertainment values in pursuit of a living? What about the Three Tenors, the Three Sopranos, and, now, I learn of the Three Waiters?

If jazz can move to the proscenium stage, can classical music return to the chamber--the cabaret? Years ago, my tenor friend John and I used to hunt for bars with a piano and once we launched into our mini-recital of famous tenor arias, never had to pay for a drink, and made lots of friends--including people who wanted to learn where they could get recordings.

[*Podomaht*]

Yes, it can. Just not with this generation where YOUNG BUCK reigns supreme, adbot.