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kerouac
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Is Classical Music dying?
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Dec 6 17:39 UTC 1996 |
Is classical music a dying industry? That seems to be what a lot of people
are thinking. Now that just about every worthwhile work is on CD, and
in many versions, the sentiment is that the recording industry is going to
cut back on new classical releases. You can see their point. How many
versions of Pachabel's Canon or Bach's Brandenburg Concertos are really
needed? Currently there are so many versions of all the major works out there
that
the market is saturated. If a studio has a hundred different digital
versions of a symphony, why payout big bucks to record yet another new
version?
The saturation is such that the cds you find in the budget or cut out
bins are as good or better than the newer versions of same you find in the
front of
the store. The classical industry desperately needs new works. As it is,
the day maynotbe far off where the classical labels release far fewere new
cds than they do today.
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| 37 responses total. |
md
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response 1 of 37:
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Dec 7 16:53 UTC 1996 |
You could certainly make a good case for that. I hope it isn't true,
but I'm afraid it is. What would it take to spark a new resurgence of
interest in classical music? What would make teenagers start going
to the classical section in droves?
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rcurl
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response 2 of 37:
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Dec 7 18:43 UTC 1996 |
I'm not sure what it is that this item alleges is "dying". Classical music
or the repetitive production of different renditions of the same works?
The question Richard asks is about the *industry*. Do we care if the
industry contracts, as long as most (significant..don't ask) classical
works are available? There are two issues here. One is the availability of
recording of classical works, in which lots of people have an interest,
and the other is the availability of a lot of different interpretations of
the same work, for which the audience is much narrower. I am most
concerned about the former.
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kerouac
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response 3 of 37:
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Dec 7 22:32 UTC 1996 |
#2...I'm talking a little of both. Once the industry stops releasing
new recordings of classical music, it becomes difficult for new
classical performers to practice their craft. The day might come
when nothing you can buy in the classical music section of a store
was recorded in the last twnety or fifty years. That is when the
genre ceases to be *current* Music, like any art form , needs to
be relevant and a product of its times to reflect those times.
I worry that the great new classical artists will never have the chance
the old ones did.
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rcurl
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response 4 of 37:
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Dec 7 23:39 UTC 1996 |
Ahhh..I was not thinking of the recording outlet for the *performers*. This
is in my second category (different interpretations), which I pay less
attention to than than I do to the composer's work (as long as it is decently
performed. 8^}). Yes, they do deserve outlets. But, as observed, the market
can't *absorb them all*. What are performers to do?
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remmers
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response 5 of 37:
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Dec 8 13:34 UTC 1996 |
There's an article by Allan Kozinn about the classical recording
industry's current troubles in today's Sunday New York Times.
("A Once Proud Industry Fends Off Extinction") And it does have
troubles. The classical market share has dropped from 7% in 1987
to 2.9% this year, an all time low. Contributing factors cited
include the high price of new CD's, the fact that CD re-issues
of vintage classical recordings are available at much lower
prices, the "facelessness" of many current artists, the high
cost of promoting new recordings.
"A reissue of a Herbert von Karajan recording of a Mozart
symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic can be expected to
sell thousands of copies; a recent Claudio Abbado version
with the same band stalled at a mere 200."
A few companies are employing strategies that show signs of
success. Nonesuch has tripled the size of its staff since 1983
and its sales have increased 20-fold. In concentrates on the new
music (Philip Glass, Henryk Go recki, Kronos Quartet, et al),
and diversified offerings like "world" music, theater songs,
etc -- only 20% of its releases are standard repertory. Sony
Classical has also embraced new music and jazz/classical
crossovers, and is integrating composers and performers into
"a kind of repertory company".
Kozinn closes with the observation that the standard repertory
may benefit from this diversification:
"Perhaps consumers' rejection of cookie-cutter performances
will be the kick in the pants that forces performers to
find something fresh to say about these works."
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rcurl
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response 6 of 37:
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Dec 8 17:21 UTC 1996 |
Yikes! Contriving to say "something fresh" about anything is a challenge
few artisans can meet. More likely they will try to say something just
*different*. I don't know the answer for providing adequate outlets for
performers, though the recording industry tries by issuing vanity recordings
- works performed or conducted by individuals. This also seems to depend upon
the vanity of the performers - consider how many releases there are of
works performed by (say) Jimmy Galway.
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krj
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response 7 of 37:
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Dec 11 17:58 UTC 1996 |
Thanks, John, for the pointer to the NYT article. I got a copy from the
NYT web site (www.nytimes.com); also a similar article a few days
earlier on distress in the overall recording industry. More in a bit.
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flem
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response 8 of 37:
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Dec 12 06:08 UTC 1996 |
How much of the classical industry's income comes from concerts as opposed
to recordings? I would think that it would be a larger fraction than for rock
music or other kinds. And the income from concerts is certainly not going
to go away.
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davel
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response 9 of 37:
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Dec 12 11:15 UTC 1996 |
Actually, I think concert attendance is way down. And, well, your average
professional rock band has maybe 5 members and probably plays 4 or 5 gigs a
week, right? Whereas your average symphony orchestra gives maybe 4 or 5
concerts a *year* and includes how many musicians?
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kerouac
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response 10 of 37:
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Dec 12 17:31 UTC 1996 |
The problem is that large orchestras cannot afford to pay their musicians
without recording contracts. Most musicians in top orchestras are
unionized and require top dollar even for rehearsals. Box office receipts
from live performances just dont cut it. Sadly, many orchestras inmedkium
and small towns have disbanded because of financial realities. It used to
accepted that a signature part of any town or city was their symphony
orchestra. Now even the ones in thebig cities are struggling. I used to
like the Boston Symphony years ago when they had Seiji Ozawa conducting.
Now theydont even have a recording contract and I havent seen a new
recording from them in years.
I love chamber music but if the day comes when one's chances of seeing big
orchestral works performed are rare and new orchestral recordings even
rarer, that will be sad.
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flem
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response 11 of 37:
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Dec 12 22:24 UTC 1996 |
Hmm. This does seem to be a problem. I guess I've been spoiled by Ann Arbor
and the UMS.
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davel
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response 12 of 37:
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Dec 13 11:04 UTC 1996 |
Of course, I said "average". There are still lots of classical musicians
who tour all the time, making their livings (& very good ones, in some cases)
by playing different places all the time. One problem, which has its upsides,
is that often they're playing as soloists with large orchestras. Another is
that they normally have to be ready with a much larger, more varied, & more
demanding repertoire than (say) your average rock band. This seems likely
to continue to fuel the recording industry, though I certainly agree that the
market for new performances of the same repertoire is contracting. (I
personally - as a relatively impoverished listener - am looking for no more
than an inexpensive but acceptable performance of some particular work; I have
little interest (most often *no* interest) in the kinds of differences that
the diehard collector spends his time thinking about.)
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robh
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response 13 of 37:
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Dec 18 17:03 UTC 1996 |
This item has been linked from ClassicalMusic 7 to Intro 132.
Type "join classical" at the Ok: prompt for discussion of
classical music and modern performances of same.
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rajeevl
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response 14 of 37:
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Feb 3 07:34 UTC 1997 |
Have anybody an Indian there? If u dont knowknow aboutthe Indian classical
MusicClassical Msic let me tell tell u about it. Have anybody heard of MS
Subbalakshmi., a great artist who used to give performances in India and
abroad.We used to put her songs early in the Morning so that we start the day
in a better way. Our mind will also become fresh of night dreams( I mean to
say bad dreams if there any).
Anybody heard og famous Balamuralikrishna. Calassical Music is
surviving bacause of him only in Indaia.
In my openion the Classical Music is not dying as far as Indaia is
concerned..
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srw
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response 15 of 37:
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Feb 6 02:08 UTC 1997 |
Here in the US, Indian Classical Music has a small following of very devoted
fans. I am not one of those fans, however, but I have listened to some and
I do like Indian music. I am not familiar with any of its artists, besides
ravi Shankar, of course.
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md
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response 16 of 37:
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Feb 15 20:07 UTC 1997 |
I am completely clueless about Indian classical music.
Not only do I not enjoy it, I don't even know how to enjoy it.
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kav
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response 17 of 37:
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Mar 9 05:39 UTC 1997 |
rajeev1 told us about the classical music traditions of southern India. there
is a complet e classsical music system in North India . It is based on the
same principles ( a opposed to western Claassical) but the sound is quite
different. Ravi hankar is from that style. confused? I cant say I blame you...
I am a classical Music afficiando but the south Indian syle is beyond my
comprehension except for the melody.
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elisa
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response 18 of 37:
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Mar 10 21:02 UTC 1997 |
I think that if people learned to play and like classical music, that more
people would attend the concerts. I haved played the violin for almost 4 yaers
now and I love it!
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jiffer
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response 19 of 37:
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Jun 15 14:23 UTC 1997 |
I often wonder how the struggling young musican survives someitmes. In
Augusta, the Symphony was comprised mainly of volunteers. Its kind of
shocking in ways. I do know they got paid for their services but that the
pay was also rather meager and most have real jobs as well. Frightening that
some people do not have more time to actually practice and refine their
talents.
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flem
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response 20 of 37:
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Jul 25 00:03 UTC 1997 |
re 18: I know it to be true in my experience that in any form of art,
a serious attempt on my part to create it has caused me to understand
and appreciate it better by orders of magnitude. This has proved true
for music (performing and composition), painting, sculpture, dance,
poetry...
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krj
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response 21 of 37:
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Feb 28 21:00 UTC 2002 |
Two new items on the continued decline of the classical music business,
particular in recordings and radio.
Norman Lebrecht (the author of WHO KILLED CLASSICAL MUSIC?) reports
that Britain's Gramophone magazine, probably the leading mass-market
classical magazine, is now going to branch out beyond classical music.
This seems to be because there are no longer enough new recordings
to cover, or enough advertising, in the pure classical market.
http://www.scena.org/brand/brand.asp?lan=2&id=17051&lnk=http://www.scena.or
g/columns/lebrecht/020220-nl-record.html
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"NPR Cultural Programming Put to Triage"
NPR has begun a review process which seems to be aimed at whacking a
good part of the network's remaining jazz and classical shows.
NPR station managers give the music programs generally low marks,
with the jazz programs singled out for special scorn.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8064-2002Feb26.html
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remmers
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response 22 of 37:
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Feb 28 22:43 UTC 2002 |
Appalling.
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gelinas
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response 23 of 37:
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Mar 2 00:25 UTC 2002 |
And yet. . . WEMU seems to use local talent for its music shows. I stopped
listening to WUOM (the little I did listen to it) when it all-talk. I have
the impression, perhaps false, that WKAR uses local talent, too. Maybe my
exposure to NPR affiliates isn't broad enough?
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dbratman
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response 24 of 37:
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Mar 11 22:08 UTC 2002 |
One frequently-made claim is that the lessened listenership to
classical music is related to the fall of school music education.
Maybe, but as an individual datum that's not so in my case. We had
classical music education in the schools in the '60s in my youth, but
it washed off me totally. I fell into this field by hearing some such
music by chance in my teens.
And no, I don't think the school experience somehow
unconsciously "prepared" me. What did prepare me was classical music
in popular culture, e.g. the Lone Ranger theme on TV.
So I'm a lot more worried about the drop in radio programs, which
furnished a lot of my early education in this music for free, than I am
about the loss of school music programs. And I really appreciate, when
driving through open country, finding some boondock NPR station playing
a challenging classical program. I listened to them all through the
Dakotas last summer. I'd be sorry if they're gone.
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