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Roller Coaster, In E Flat


by Alan Melson 5 Jun 2008 2:31 PM

The interwebs are littered with criticism that classical music is too stuffy, staid and self-absorbed to survive in the current on-demand, über-processed climate – and some critics cite the drop in ticket and CD sales as proof that the genre is dying. There are plenty of examples to the contrary, however, particularly in Europe – […]
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The interwebs are littered with criticism that classical music is too stuffy, staid and self-absorbed to survive in the current on-demand, über-processed climate – and some critics cite the drop in ticket and CD sales as proof that the genre is dying.

There are plenty of examples to the contrary, however, particularly in Europe – and maybe TV ads like this one from the Zurich Chamber Orchestra in Germany are helping grow audiences:

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COMMENTS

  • There is a strong movement right here in Dallas to compose and perform highly melodic work in the classical music style. I know personally of 4 people that fit this criteria and are all doing extraordinary music. Local classical music has been sadly ignored.
    I personally campaigned the city owned radio station WRR to play the works of local composers. After pressure from the city government, they did a show on the usual worst time slot for local music in Dallas radio – Sunday dead air time! If the time slot didn’t sink it the choices of music did.
    The show’s staff chose really awful music in my opinion – music that in every way had all the bad aspects of what people hate about contemporary classical music. So of course it didn’t last.
    Perhaps they chose music on credentials instead of quality. That is another problem with many local music shows.
    I think WRR should play the best of melodic local contemporary composers. It’s easy enough to do. Just ask for submissions with the criteria that they are more melodic than experimental. Like modern art, the worst of modern classical music has gone weird. WRR could not only support local arts, but help support the melodic movement by playing its best compositions.