Why isn't classical music more popular?

[Goliath]

So, I'm in the middle of adding some new classical-music discs to my iTunes library, when something occurred to me: I've never encountered anybody who had a strong negative reaction to this type of music. That is to say, I've never met anybody who hated classical music.

Some people do hate certain genres and sub-genres of popular music. They can't stand to listen to them, and are quite vocal in their criticism thereof. But the only type of classical music to which people seem to react this way is opera.

Most people, it seems, like some classical or classical-style music--in film soundtracks, for example. At worst, people seem to be indifferent. I've heard people say, for example, that classical music makes them sleepy--but I've never heard anybody say "turn that shit off!"

I would even be willing to wager that opera-haters don't hate all opera. I mean, who could hate Pavarotti singing "Nessun dorma"?

And yet--there seem to be comparatively few classical-music fans out there. Why is that?

Or am I mistaken? Are there people out there who hate the sound of classical music? If so, why?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

If I'm listening to classical music, it's usually this kind.

 

[Goliath]

If I'm listening to classical music, it's usually this kind.

Fair enough.

 

[Kemaiku]

Because its rather dull, uninspiring, drawn out, lacking in nearly every good aspect of popular music and carries a large social stigma of being boring or not for "cool" people to listen to.

Personally I have found a few pieces I can sit through or like at least part of, but for the most part the genre is very tiring and dull to me.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

If I'm listening to classical music, it's usually this kind.

Fair enough.

And, of course, this.

 

[Goliath]

Because, in my opinion, it's rather dull. Personally, I find it uninspiring, drawn out, and lacking in nearly every good aspect of popular music. Plus, it carries a large social stigma of being boring or not for "cool" people to listen to.

Edited for accuracy.

I found that last part especially interesting.

Personally I have found a few pieces I can sit through or like at least part of, but for the most part the genre is very tiring and dull to me.

Again: fair enough.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

If I'm listening to classical music, it's usually this kind.

Fair enough.

And, of course, this.

The local classical station here in SF (which my radio is permanently tuned to) has a habit of playing music from Star Wars on practically a daily basis. They went thru an Indiana Jones phase when the movie debuted a couple weeks ago. Occasionally they dabble in LOTR & Harry Potter soundtracks.

 

[Goliath]

The local classical station here in SF (which my radio is permanently tuned to) has a habit of playing music from Star Wars on practically a daily basis. They went thru an Indiana Jones phase when the movie debuted a couple weeks ago. Occasionally they dabble in LOTR & Harry Potter soundtracks.

Good for them--and I mean that sincerely. I think there's a lot of good music in those soundtracks.

I was very disappointed that I couldn't make it to Toronto this weekend to hear the TSO play music from Star Trek. One of my colleagues went, along with her husband. I hope they have a flat on the way back.

 

[Caleuche]

It reminds people of lifts and waiting in call centre queues. It has few sexy, image-orientated stars who can be smacked across the front cover of every magazine (Katherine Jenkins excepted). It is forced on kids in schools as an example of good music, giving them something to rebel against. It is associated with old people. It tends to lack lyrics so can't be sung along with. It is seen as bland and unenergetic. It is used in most soundtracks to movies and has become so familar that it blends into the background. All of which is a shame as there is some good stuff out there really.

 

[Holdfast]

The main reasons:

1) The volume varies too much to be comfortably listened to in a car.
2) Each "track" lasts too long to fit in enough commercials on radio
3) The hooks are too far apart.
4) A fair amount of it requires active rather than passive listening to be enjoyed.

It may sound like I'm being flippant, but I'm not joking at all. Those are the basic commercial reasons why it isn't more popular.

It's no coincidence that the stations like Classic FM are always is some sort of financial straits as a result, having to play populist short-duration arias, overtures, interspersed with operetta and even showtunes.

 

[Starbreaker]

Because kids are thugs nowadays. I'm a big fan of Shostakovich.

 

[Goliath]

It may sound like I'm being flippant, but I'm not joking at all. Those are the basic commercial reasons why it isn't more popular.

Oh, I know you're not being flippant.

In fact, though I don't own a car, I've really started to notice the whole "variable volume" problem. Invariably (no pun intended), when I try to listen to classical music while walking, or on the bus, the quieter parts are drowned out by traffic noise.

This is especially noticeable with contemporary classical, the composers of which seem to assume that their music will never be heard outside of a soundproof concert hall, and who therefore include extremely quiet passages that one has to strain to hear in the real world.

It's not such a problem with music from earlier periods, despite the fact that this music was composed in a much quieter world. I've wondered about that, and concluded that Baroque and Classical audiences must not have maintained today's reverential silence.

In fact, I remember a passage from Anne Rice's Cry to Heaven, describing a concert in Venice where the audience was very noisy--except for an Englishman, who was vainly trying to shush everyone else.

 

[ToddPence]

So, I'm in the middle of adding some new classical-music discs to my iTunes library, when something occurred to me: I've never encountered anybody who had a strong negative reaction to this type of music. That is to say, I've never met anybody who hated classical music.

People who hate classical music may be afraid to say so because they think it will make them look like an uncultured Philistine.

 

[Holdfast]

The main reasons:

1) The volume varies too much to be comfortably listened to in a car.
2) Each "track" lasts too long to fit in enough commercials on radio
3) The hooks are too far apart.
4) A fair amount of it requires active rather than passive listening to be enjoyed.

It may sound like I'm being flippant, but I'm not joking at all. Those are the basic commercial reasons why it isn't more popular.

Oh, I know you're not being flippant.

In fact, though I don't own a car, I've really started to notice the whole "variable volume" problem. Invariably (no pun intended), when I try to listen to classical music while walking, or on the bus, the quieter parts are drowned out by traffic noise.

It's very annoying, because you then have to jack the volume up... which then becomes overbearing on the louder sections. Pop music compresses the range enough so it's never a problem.

It's not such a problem with music from earlier periods, despite the fact that this music was composed in a much quieter world. I've wondered about that, and concluded that Baroque and Classical audiences must not have maintained today's reverential silence.

Huh, never thought of that. Wonder if it's true.



BTW, on the subject of classical music not having frequent enough hooks to be populist, I realised there is one exception, which is why (in combination with its relatively short duration) it gets replayed on classical radio stations so much. In fact it's such a good hook, it was abused in Blues Traveler's song Hook which rather makes fun of it for being so catchy.

 

[Goliath]

BTW, on the subject of classical music not having frequent enough hooks to be populist, I realised there is one exception, which is why (in combination with its relatively short duration) it gets replayed on classical radio stations so much. In fact it's such a good hook, it was abused in Blues Traveler's song Hook which rather makes fun of it for being so catchy.

Hehe. Nice. I didn't recognize the underlying melody until they started playing the solo.

But speaking of Pachelbel: if brevity is such an important consideration, I don't understand why radio stations don't concentrate more on the Baroque repertoire. There must be endless numbers of suites to plunder for three-minute movements with catchy tunes.

For example: I'm sure just about every Canadian classical-music listener knows Rameau's "Fanfarinette," from his 1728 suite for harpsichord, by heart: it's the theme of DiscDrive, an afternoon show on CBC FM that's been on the air for more than twenty years.

 

[DavidFalkayn]

I agree with the point about duration. Attention spans nowadays are shorter--the average pop tune is less than three--generally two--minutes. Part of it is also that classical music requires the listener to be actively engaged in the process--to really listen to the music--the melody, the structure, to put themselves into the work.

Also, our (US public) educational system is not "classics friendly"--whether the classics are music, art, literature, or history. The classics are presented--when they're presented at all at the primary or secondary school level--as something to be slogged through...to be endured--generally because the teachers teaching the material don't like it and students will pick up on that and respond accordingly.

Opera is an acquired taste--you have to listen to it for a while to really appreciate what's going on, but once you do, it's most enjoyable.

 

[Neroon]

There probably are those who hate it, just as you've pointed out that there are variations in taster and preference. I personally can't tell you too much about what makes a piece of music "classical". I can only tell you what I like.

Why aren't there more who like it, if it's ineed "classic"? Seems as if some excellent reasons have been proffered already. Listening to it in a car can be problematic, becaue of what Holdfast said: the volume doesn't translate well.

For my case, I enjoy it but particularly in certain settings. Studying a program, relaxing after a nasty day, as background during a meeting, etc. There is popular music which evokes a certain release, and emotional response. But there is something more timeless listening to Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Beethoven, DeBussey, Mozart, and more. I like the thrilling lift from the violins in Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons: Winter". Certain piano arrangements in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony bring out a powerful sound of strength.

But that may just be me

 

[firehawk12]

I used to like Classical, but I love modern orchestral simply because it's new and exciting. I don't know if it's because the music is all contextualized by a film, television show or video game, but the music is suddenly more interesting.
And, thankfully, it's not all European. No one in the West would have even heard of Uematsu, an untrained composer no less, if it wasn't for Final Fantasy.

 

[M'Sharak]

It's not such a problem with music from earlier periods, despite the fact that this music was composed in a much quieter world. I've wondered about that, and concluded that Baroque and Classical audiences must not have maintained today's reverential silence.

Huh, never thought of that. Wonder if it's true.

Possibly a factor, but I think it even more likely that it was during the Classical and Romantic periods that the idea of written dynamics came along (whereas in the Baroque they were simply part of performance practice, understood but not notated, and also less pronounced.) The long crescendos of Stamitz' Mannheim orchestra and the sturm und drang of earlier Haydn and his contemporaries were Classical developments.

Also a likely factor would be the capability of the instruments themselves to produce a wide dynamic range. Many instruments underwent significant changes in construction and in the design of mechanisms. Perhaps most notable was the advent of the modern piano (the name is a shortened form of pianoforte - literally "soft-loud") which had a tremendously-expanded dynamic range, compared to previous keyboard/string instruments, and was even a substantial improvement over its immediate predecessor, the fortepiano of Mozart's and Haydn's time. You can see the increase in use of expressive dynamic writing by following Beethoven's piano works from earlier to later.

 

[RoJoHen]

I prefer music I can sing along to.

Classical is fine as background music, but it doesn't hold my attention otherwise.