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Sarah Canice Funke
- Becoming Relevant
Does Western Art music seem to be confined to a smaller and smaller audience these days? If you go to a classical music concert, you are more than likely apt to see grey and white hair gracing the heads of the audience members. The demographic of concert devotees seems to be aging rather quickly. Why does Western Art music seem less than hip to the emerging generations? Perhaps it’s the associations of “old-fashioned” or “out-of-date” that classical music can convey. Maybe it’s the perception that classical music is not as relevant to current social issues as more contemporary idioms such as hip-hop or rock claim to be. Yet composers such as John Adams have commented on everything from former President Nixon’s political relations with China (
Nixon in China) to 9/11 (
On the Transmigration of Souls). Maybe contemporary classical music seems too abrasive or difficult to perform. Yet Aaron Copland’s later music utilized the familiarity of Western tonality, and even Philip Glass and Steve Reich remain tonal, if in less conventional ways. Is the way to make Western Art music appear more relevant simply to break down the barriers that have kept it separate from the popular “music of the masses”? In other words, should composers be concerned not only with writing for a concert hall but also with creating works that can be played at, for example, rock concerts?
