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From: ellis@flairvax.UUCP (Michael Ellis)
Newsgroups: net.music,net.music.classical
Subject: Re: Why classical music is not popular
Message-ID: <659@flairvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 17-Jul-84 02:02:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: flairvax.659
Posted: Tue Jul 17 02:02:23 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 18-Jul-84 06:24:50 EDT
Organization: Fairchild AI Lab, Palo Alto, CA
Lines: 22

Another reason why classical music is not popular is that it is, for all
practical purposes, `dead'.

By which I mean there is relatively little experimentation with new ideas,
few or no new schools of thought, no exciting breakthroughs, and nothing
to attract the most brilliant new musical minds of our time.

Look at the explosive development of classical in the first forty years of
this century (or in practically any other period since ~1600, except for the
equally dead `classical' period). Major new styles used to revitalize
classical music with each new generation, and the new music was eagerly
consumed by the listening public within 20 years after its invention.

Whereas now aging ideas (like serialism, which goes back to the 30's) are
still treated as overly modern, at least by the majority of the classical
listening audience. No wonder so many young creative composers prefer to go
into jazz, esoteric rock, &c, rather than waste their time with a listening
public that will not accept any innovation whatsoever.

Classical has died from an overabundance of conservatives.

-michael `Attentio classical listeners -- ESAD' ellis