I have been asked by some non-musician friends what the definition of classical music is. How is it different from non-classical music. I have not been able to come up with a very good answer.
That's because it's a pretty difficult question, Jane! Let me share a couple of things that I tell the students in my Survey of Music course, early in the 2nd semester (all non-music majors). The term "classical" properly refers to Classical Greece and Rome, and the learning and ideas of those writers and philosophers and those times. From time to time throughout the history of Western Europe, there have been periods of rediscovery or renewed interest in the old guys and their ideas. The late 18th century was one of those periods of Classical revival. That's why Monticello looks like a Greek temple.
OK, time to bring in the B theme. In most cultures above the subsistance level, music (and other arts) serve two very specific functions in society: ritual and entertainment. Sacred music enhances the ritual of workship, formal music enhances the rituals of coronations, weddings and funerals, and pep band and marching band music enhances the rituals of athletic competitions. Entertainment music, on the other hand, tends to be fairly specific to the various social classes in a society, and one has to remember that until very, very recently European society has been rather rigidly stratified by social class. In fact, some of the world's great literature is based on someone's trying to assume a rank in society they are not entitled to, and the consequences of that attempt. What we tend to call "classical" (small c, in quotes) or "art" music was, in almost every case i can think of, intended for the entertainment of the upper classes, who could afford to hire the best musicians and the best composers, who could afford to support opera houses and concert halls and ballet companies, and who were presumably better educated and more discerning than the middle and lower classes. (They weren't, of course, but they liked to think they were!)
Back to the A theme, with variations. The late 18th century was a period of classical revival, but the one art that could not be studied was Classical Greek music. Even now it's a mystery to all but a few specialists, and we're not even sure they're on the right track. So what the late 18th century composers working in and around Vienna adopted came from Greek visual art--the sense of balance and proportion that does, indeed, mark the music of Mozart, Haydn and their contemporaries.
Possibly a C theme, or a variation on the B theme. Prior to the late 18th century, ALL music was ephemeral. Entertainment music depends on fashion and fad, and those were more likely to change among the upper class than among the middle and lower class. There was a constant market for new music because old music fell out of fashion and was dropped from use. I would imagine that the half-life of upper class entertainment music was much shorter than that of middle and lower class music, because the lower classes tended to be more conservative in their taste and much of their music was traditional or folk music.
Development section. Guess what? The music of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven NEVER WENT OUT OF STYLE! It is virtually the first entertainment music in history to live on after its natural life span as fashionable music ran out. Now at this point I am purely speculating and playing with terminology, and our European friends may (correctly) point out that I'm reading too much into that terminology. Since the music of the Viennese school was Classical in the sense of coming out of a period of Classical revival, that term somehow got hung on the music and stuck. So the entertainment music of the upper classes became, in effect, concert music for the concert hall after a few bloody revolutions reduced the number of European aristocrats considerably. And the middle class audiences who supported public concerts got to like that music, and so "classical" music was born both as a term and as a concept of "high class" music.
Now the 20th century dichotomy between "classical" or "art" music and popular music has always bothered me. I'm a musician, period, and I try to do everything I can without worrying about such artificial distinctions. I was a professional musical entertainer for close to 20 years, kept my hand in with classical music whenever I got a chance, and got really interested in early music when I finally got around to grad school. Why did everybody make such a big deal about classical vs. popular music; isn't it all music?
Purely by accident, I came across a wonderful, thought-provoking book by Alan Gowans: "The Unchanging Arts." His thesis was that every art serves a function in society, and that while the forms of each art change with fashion, the functions remain the same. That made sense to me. He then pointed out that functional art can be well done or poorly done, done with special creativity or done according to tradition, done with genius or done with simple competence. And that also made sense to me. There is a lowest common denominator in every art, specifically designed to appeal to the broadest constituency in society. And there is a level of creative genius that will never appeal to everyone, but will speak to those who are capable of appreciating it. But the important thing is that both are still functional music for which society has a need and for which there is a market.
There is a wonderful scene in Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land,"where the household is discussing artists. I can't remember the exact wording, but someone said, in effect, "a competent artist can draw an old woman, and you can see the old woman. A really good artist can draw an old woman, and show you both the old woman and the young girl she used to be. But a great artist can draw an old woman and show you both the old woman and the young girl whom she still is."
What's fascinating is that Dr. Gowans is no musician. He's an art historian, not just of fine art but of the kind of everyday arts that we call crafts, or traditional designs, or Martha Stewart's K-Mart collection! But everything he had to say spoke directly to me as a musician. He's also obviously had some painful run-ins with the Fine Arts establishment, because he comes down pretty hard on them. He draws a distinction between functional art--which can be either High Art of Low Art but which serves its society--and what he calls Fine Art, which has no function in society except to satify the ego of its creator and make money for art galleries. And with appologies in advance and no intent to insult anyone, I find that much of the "classical" or "art" music of the 20th century has no connection with society, does not respond to feedback from society, and does serve primarily to satisfy the ego of the composer, who more than likely has a day job as a college professor and needs it, because there is no market for his or her works.
Are movie scores such as Star Wars classical music? I would say no probably.
I would disagree. Movie music has a clear function in our society, one that began with the addition of incidental music to theatrical plays, and that in the graphic arts is at its best illustrating a good story and making it more vivid. Movie scores found a niche function in 20th century society that reaches out and touches millions of people while making the story lines come to life. And I don't much care whether anyone wants to argue over the semantic distinction of whether it's "classical" or "popular" music. It is music well-conceived for its function, created with great skill, and just as appealing to its audiences as Mozart's equally functional music was 200 and more years ago.
<end soapbox> <return to normal> <have a good day> <do you want to play a game?> Hal? What are you doing, Hal?
John
-- John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
