It used to be the case the the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the CBC, had some sort of mandate to expose and educate the populace with a bit of classical music. I remember watching Glenn Gould do a half-hour show on Sunday afternoons on CBC television. But now it looks like the CBC, the public school system and even the Victoria Conservatory of Music, have thrown in the towel and decided that there is only one kind of music: popular music. Here is an article: Five music classes from Island finalists in CBC's Canadian Music Class Challenge. Here is the Victoria Conservatory entry:
So why this song?
The eighth annual contest is run by CBC Music in partnership with the charitable organization, MusiCounts. In order to qualify, music teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school level were asked to to submit videos of their students performing selections from a list of 24 pre-approved songs, including hits by Neil Young, Blue Rodeo, Trooper and Tegan and Sara, among others.
Ah, so a classical music conservatory was actually not allowed to submit a classical piece. But if they had I'm sure it would have been far more professional.
Weird times. I have the feeling that in a thousand little ways classical music is simply being pushed to the curb and not even allowed to win over new audiences.
UPDATE: And the Victoria Conservatory group won the contest in their category, Community/Independent/Private School. The prize? $1,000 in new musical instruments and a plaque.
Is Classical over? Will it die not with a bang, but a whimper?
ReplyDeleteMy less than authoritative opinion is that it’s Ok in Europe, but it will only survive in the largest urban areas in the USA.
The unfortunate thing is that many in flyover country and smaller cities will not even know such a music genre even exists.
And isn’t it true that many flavors of music have disappeared completely over the centuries?
Some music friends believe classical develops ‘chops’ better than other styles. I’m not convinced….
I picked this story out because I taught at the Victoria Conservatory of Music for a decade and frankly I was shocked to see this clip.
ReplyDeleteYes, some genres of music fade away and disappear completely, but classical music as a whole tends to both endure and to preserve the best examples of many genres. For example, Gregorian chant which saw a revival a hundred years ago and is still hanging on; not to mention dance forms like the mazurka, courante or schottische.
I suspect that classical music virtuosity is a bit different than virtuosity in pop music, even in some areas like blues guitar (Stevie Ray Vaughan), I am less sure of jazz. But I think there is a pretty strong argument that the aesthetic realm of classical music is both broader and deeper than other forms of music. But I'm sure I will get some pushback on that!
As long as kids are watching Star Wars, people will be hearing that 19th century orchestral vocabulary. Some percentage of them are going to get into film scores, some percentage of them are going to want to know where all that music comes from.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ethan, that's a good point. And if they are watching Wednesday, maybe they will get into Bartók!
ReplyDeleteas the late Taruskin put it, classical music CHANGING is not the same as it DYING, a conclusion he reached by the end of writing The Ox.
ReplyDeleteMan, kinda depressing to think that he passed just this year.
I like Neil Young but this rendition isn't even that good. The strings sound really out of tune to me...speaking as someone who bows my strings plenty out of tune myself. But I'm not at a conservatory nor competing in a contest. I agree it is absurd that a classically-oriented conservatory is not allowed to submit a classical performance...except maybe the real issue is the conservatory should ignore pop music contests and find (or initiate) classical music contests appropriate to their mission & curriculum?
ReplyDeleteSomeone at the Conservatory should have said this really isn't our thing and will reflect badly on us. But the real problem is the way the contest itself is structured: nothing but pop!
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