“Why classical?”
It’s a question I’ve been asked many times over many years. Often, that question is followed by a comment such as, “You have to be a musician to understand that stuff.” Or “It’s really noisy.” Or “That’s elitist music.”
When I taught university and, back before electricity, high school, students asked if I thought classical music was better than, say, rock or hip-hop. Lately, I’ve been “recollecting in tranquility” those comments and questions.
And here are my answers. (This will probably be a bit of a ramble, but stay with me.)
No, you don’t have to be a musician to understand classical music. I’m certainly not a musician. Although dedicated listening to classical is apt to inspire a curiosity about the music—how it’s made, who makes it, what’s the difference between a clarinet and a cor anglais.
I started listening when I was a kid—first or second grade--thanks to Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts and the musical interludes on Captain Kangaroo (Thank you Jerome Moross, thank you Leroy Anderson. But it’s never too late to develop a liking for classical music. I have a friend who came to it as an adult, and now she regularly attends orchestra concerts and recitals and is a proud supporter of classical music performance. Big fan of Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Go Phillies.
Is classical music noisy? I can understand that classical music might sound cacophonous to someone new to it. And there are a few moments of some classical pieces that are intentionally so. But I think when people say classical music is “noisy,” they mostly mean it’s complex. For me, the complexity is what attracts me to classical music. There are so many layers, textures, variations in pitch, and rhythm. And not just in a big orchestral work like, say, Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra. In chamber performances or even solo recitals, the constant shifts in mood and intensity, the changing attack and decay of notes, the altering tempi, and the fact that classical is overwhelmingly acoustic are what excite me. I listen to other kinds of music and enjoy them. But classical keeps me engaged and involved in ways no other music does.
Is classical music elitist? Well, classical concerts can certainly appear to be. The audiences and behaviors at classical concerts can be intimidating or even seem restrictive. There are a few traditions observed that might seem a little odd at first. For example, you applaud at the end of a completed work, but not at the end of a movement in that work. Unless it’s a premiere. Then you can applaud at—oh, never mind. And quiet is expected at classical concerts. But quiet is expected at the movies, too. That’s just respecting other people’s experience.
Yes, the conventions of classical concerts are different. But those differences aren’t dictated by class structure or income. They’re agreed-upon behaviors for specific circumstances. And all social interactions have those. Classical concerts are, or should be, welcoming gatherings of like-minded appreciators, just as pop or hip-hop concerts are. Classical music is for all people, no fancy dress or pedigree required. If you love the music, take a seat. Those musicians, that conductor, they’re playing for you and they’re mighty glad you’re there.
And finally, no, I don’t think classical music is better than other forms of music. It’s art, and there’s no such thing as better or worse art. Art is a category, not a quality. Art is whatever an artist says is art, and we, as experiencers of that art, decide what we like, what we value. And I don’t mean monetary value. Pablo isn’t Picasso because his paintings sell for millions at Sotheby’s. He’s Picasso because his work resonates with enough people to make it valuable as a powerful stimulator of feelings and ideas. Same with Beethoven or Higdon or Price or Schumann—powerful stimulators all. For me, at least. And, come to think of it, for millions of others around the world.
So why classical? Please see the particulars in my ramble above. We each choose the art that works for us. And here’s the best part--if enough of us choose a particular art, like classical music, we want to know about it and experience it and even support it together. It can, in fact, be the ultimate democratic force in our lives.
