modest meets modest

Modest Mouse Meets Modest Mussorgsky: An Examination of Classical Music in Popular Culture

In an age where six-year-olds own cell phones and cars run on electricity, it is no surprise that technology is transforming our musical customs as well. Soap operas replaced operatic drama, ipods replaced live music, Rock Band replaced the guitar, Britney replaced Bach. Classical music, once a thriving member of 19th century popular culture, is now a dying art. Customs have changed so dramatically in the last century, in fact, that "classical music" isn't really "Classical" music anymore. Once a scholarly term for music of the period between Bach and Beethoven, to modern day folk, “classical music” refers to all of the music rooted in Western liturgical and secular music. Now, anything with string instruments can pass for "classical." Classical music has been reduced, reused and recycled by our ready-made lifestyle and is on the verge of extinction. Is there a chance classical music will ever be the cultural centerpiece it once was? Is there a future for classical music?

Classical music is undeniably, and quickly, becoming an outcast among our techno-savy society, causing sinking classical organizations to scramble to stay afloat. The National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) recently released the latest of their periodic studies on arts audiences. As expected, their 2008 data shows “persistent patterns of decline in participation for most art forms” (Sandow). In the last thirty years alone, “attendance at performing arts such as classical music, jazz, opera, ballet, musical theater, and dramatic plays has seen double-digit rates of decline.” The waning fan numbers, which have far surpassed projected levels, have encouraged classical organizations to rethink their business plans. The Chicago Symphony just announced that their operating budget for fiscal year 2010 is now $2 million smaller than originally planned. Chicago Tribune writer John von Rhein declares that if orchestras intend to make it out of the recession, however, they need to “do a good deal more than making a few nips and tucks” in their expense report (1). While tighter budgets may give temporary wrinkle relief, von Rhein and others note that an increase in demand from the consumer base is the only way to provide classical music with a lasting face-lift.

In response to classical music's widespread decline in popularity, we have witnessed a frenzied upheaval of advertising techniques among American classical music organizations. The Boston Pops Orchestra elongated their summer program, the Los Angeles Philharmonic created a kid-friendly version of the Ring Cycle and the Dallas Symphony now regularly programs “Casual Friday” concerts. Because of its age, classical music can sometimes be regarded as "old-fashioned" or unpopular, therefore one of the most prominent advertising efforts is to make it appear more "hip." New marketing strategies are a common occurrence among older industries - long-standing newspapers now transfer their articles to the internet and authors offer their books online. Finally, it seems patrons of classical music, too, are re-introducing their product to battle "aging" criticisms. In his blog “My Fickle Ears Dig It,” tubist Steven Kac refers to the aforementioned NEA report and doubts the effectiveness of these marketing tactics:

The classical music people have been on about the aging audience issue for years. They've identified formality as the enemy, and hence, the solution they've pursued has been to try to make the concert experience more casual. How curious, then, that the audience is aging even faster. Is formality really the villain here? (Kac).

Kac poses a provoking question. Is the "formal" presentation of classical music the only factor contributing to its decline, or is there another cause? As attempts to make classical music more approachable (and more informal) fail to revive our culture's love for classical music, we are left to assume the latter. Over and over again, “Concerts in the Park” and “Family Nights” are unsuccessful and orchestra managers wonder what went wrong. They don’t realize, or perhaps are unwilling to admit, that their advertising attempts were flawless. People simply no longer have a taste for classical music.

Now, this is where it gets tricky. Masters in marketing realize that in order to catch people’s attention about classical music we must make it appealing to them. Mere advertising and media manipulation, however, do not seem to be doing the job. Audiences are only temporarily satisfied, if that, by informal classical events, and entirely unsatiated by formal concerts. People's music preferences have changed, but if we attempt to force classical music down their throats it will only instill their distaste. Instead of manipulating people, we need to manipulate music. In spite of academia’s ethical boundaries, the best way to ensure a successful, relevant future for classical music is to combine it with popular culture, creating mass appeal to modern society.

The majority of research on people's music preferences attributes musical taste to distinct characteristics, including geography, socioeconomic status, race and level of education. George Carney's book, for example, The Sounds of People and Places, tracks the origin of various music genres to cities across America. Carney then associates people's preference of unique genres such as Country or Blues to their geographic location. Similarly, author Karl Schuessler associates people’s diverse music preferences with their socio-economic history. In his book Musical Taste and Socio-Economic Background, Schuessler concludes that those raised in high-income households tend to prefer "high art" music such as classical more than those raised in low-income families (27). If people are predisposed to like and dislike certain genres, then how can advertising be effective? According to Carney and Schuessler, we can play Mozart symphonies all day long to a lower-income, uneducated person from Tullahoma, Tennessee, but, because of their background, we would run out of symphonies before they learned to like the music.

Other research credits people's music preferences to their family life. Craig and Irene Peery of BYU published an article in the Journal of Research in Music Education about the effect exposure to classical music as a young child has on future music preferences. Unsurprisingly, those who were exposed to the genre at an early age tended to enjoy the music more later in life. Most children are lucky enough to be taught classical music in public school, but for those who are not, the Peerys suggest their parents take on the responsibility of finding music education for them. As if parents aren't busy enough already, apparently the future of classical music lies in their hands, too. In the same journal, author David Boyle published an article titled "Factors Influencing Pop Music Preferences of Young Persons," in which he accounts for societal and parental influences in children's musical taste. Boyle reasons that if our fondness for classical genres continues to falter, subsequent generations will not learn to appreciate the art and, according to Darwin's theory of natural selection, the species of classical music will soon become extinct. This enlightening research has yet to be recognized by current leaders of classical music organizations. Rather than acknowledge the complexity of people's music preferences, they assume that with the right amount of advertising (which tends to be an overwhelming amount) people will easily be convinced to listen to classical music. It is apparent, however, that it takes more than a reduction in ticket prices to attract someones attention to a classical concert. We must take individual preferences and sociological influences into account if we want to fully restore classical music's reputation. We have to accept that people's music preferences are beyond our control, and instead manipulate classical music so that it will fall within their realm of listening.

I recently conducted a short online survey on people’s music preferences and perception of classical music. My subject pool consisted of thirty people between the age of 19 and 30, one person younger than 18 and two people over 30. The majority of subjects are current college students and 14 of them are music majors. My intention was to discover what music people like, if and why they do not like classical music, and what it would take for them to attend a classical music concert. I did not anticipate many people would be avid fans of classical music, and, alas, the results echoed my expectations. When asked what genre of music they listen to the most, over 50% of subjects responded that they listen to Rock or Pop. Almost 75% of subjects claimed they either never or infrequently attended classical music concerts. Over two thirds of subjects said they would not spend more than $30 to attend a classical music concert, with 20% claiming they wouldn’t even spend a penny. Still, the results had a silver lining. An overwhelming majority of subjects claimed they would gladly spend more than $30 to hear a classical music concert if the concert featured their favorite artist, and every single person said they would enjoy listening to classical music if it were fused with another genre, such as Jazz, Latin or, strangely enough, 80s.

These survey results prove that there is a future for classical music, but not as we know it today. For one reason or another, be it age, hometown or ethnicity, people develop particular music preferences that they are reluctant to change. It seems, though, that people are willing to listen to new (and even classical) music if it is combined with genres familiar to them. An obvious example of this approach is Walter Murphy’s disco titled “A Fifth of Beethoven,” released in 1976. Murphy’s effect-heavy adaptation of the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is somewhat crude, with a looped beat and weak electronic solo. The song features only a few original ideas, and all of them are variations of Beethoven's original melody. Obviously, Murphy assumed that the general public was familiar with Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and would catch on to the pun. Even with this required amount of classical literacy, the disco reached the Top 40 hit list, was featured in movies like Saturday Night Fever and Austin Powers, and gave the long deceased Ludwig loads of free publicity.

Even though remixes such as these bring notice to classical genres, a few high-art music authorities assert that extensive alteration of the classical canon is unethical. Holly Mulcahy, author of the column “Neo Classical” in the Partial Observer, disagrees with orchestra attempts to perform contemporary genres such as Michael Jackson hits. This type of programming, Mulcahy insists, is merely a “ploy” to attract ticket buyers and make the orchestra “seem more approachable” (Mulcahy). In her article “Should Orchestras Confine Themselves to a Certain Genre?” Mulcahy questions why orchestras have changed their profiles so drastically:

Some say orchestras are limiting themselves by relegating the majority of programming to standard repertoire from 100-200 years ago. But isn't that what people expect? When they buy a ticket to go see the symphony, aren't they generally expecting a Brahmish, Beethovenesque or Mozarty type piece? When one goes to a steakhouse for dinner, one expects to see mostly steak on the menu. Why shouldn't orchestras approach ticket buyers the same way? (Mulcahy).

If the ticket buyers Mulcahy mentions actually wanted to hear a “Mozarty” piece, her argument might stand firm. As it turns out, the preponderance of potential ticket buyers would much rather listen to an orchestral rendition of “Thriller” than anything resembling Mozart. In this society, if any organization followed Mulcahy’s advice and programmed a Baroque-only concert season they may as well get their lawyer on the line, because they will soon be filing for bankruptcy. Orchestras no longer have the option of programming only standard repertoire.

To satisfy classical elitists like Mulcahy, a less invasive approach to modifying classical repertoire can be taken. One such approach is the trendy technique of multi-genre programming. Greg Sandow, music professor and author of the ArtsJournal blog “Sandow,” recently oversaw such a concert in which minimalist pieces by Elliot Carter and John Adams were performed alongside Michael Jackson and the Decemberists. The concert was planned and performed by student musicians and included “radical” additions like integrated videos, strobe lighting and sing-a-long lyrics. In his post “NOI liftoff” Sandow writes of the audience’s response to the concert:

Some people making comments here liked the ideas. Some didn't. Some liked some of the ideas, but not others. Some thought the ideas would lead to effective outreach, some didn't. Some worried that the ideas -- if carried out on any large scale -- would make too great a change in classical concerts. The concert was, if you ask me -- and if you ask the students -- a great success.

The combination of genres within a single concert works well to lure people to classical music. The presence of contemporary genres works as bait, and once an audience is hooked, people listen to classical music in its unaltered form. While some concert goers may be displeased with being forced to listen to the classical part of the program, most listeners are thankful for the contrast and listen with open ears. Even Mulcahy admits she wouldn’t mind if the steak house kitchen (in this case, concert program) offered a “few interesting and different side dish choices to mix it up a bit.”

The latest initiative to popularize classical music is to modernize its presentation. In 2008, Russian visual artist Alexey Steele founded a concert series called Classical Underground. Once a month, in a large warehouse in Carson, California, friends and guests of Steele sit on couches and folding chairs and listen to chamber music performed by Los Angeles Philharmonic members and local musicians. At a recent performance, Roberto Leni, an Academic Advisor for the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, was one of nearly five hundred audience members dressed in “Bohemian” clothing and snacking from a “pot-luck style” table at the warehouse. The atmosphere enchanted Leni:

There was an incredible mix of people and the musicians played music by composers from all over Eastern Europe. It was very refreshing to hear Western classical music in that kind of place. It was like going out in the streets in Europe and hearing a professional violinist playing in a Metro for only a couple of coins. That doesn’t happen enough here.

Classical music has long been portrayed as an elitist art that is showcased in stuffy, inhospitable symphony halls and meant for only select ears. But we no longer live in a hierarchical European society, Leni points out, and it is time traditional Western music became available, comfortable and fashionable in our society. This “decolonization” of classical music is a necessary process that Leni insists will “bring music back to the people” (Leni). In other words, classical music is not just fit for a king - it is a genre appreciated by everyone and, accordingly, should be available to everyone. Classical music must be poured into America's melting pot and placed on the pot-luck dinner table alongside all of the other genres.

It may be difficult for some classical musicians to greet these changes with open arms. After all, there is no guarantee that our alterations to classical music will not be permanent; our beloved music may never be the same again. If we do not act now, though, our beloved genre may never be listened to again. As classical music takes on a popular twist, we should remember that the transformation and fusion of genres is a natural process. Brahms’ masterpiece Variations on a Theme by Haydn would never have received such acclaim had critics bashed the idea of borrowing music, and R&B would not exist had Soul and Funk genres not been united. Instead of hesitancy, classical music fans and critics should greet these changes with the solace that they will help preserve the genre as an integral art form. With our help, classical music will soon revolutionize and reinstate itself within popular culture, and when it does, let’s make sure we have enough warehouses to go around.