Classical music is dead...
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2022
- Just remember, if older people don't watch classical music performances, we don't have concerts at all hahaha... :(
So, please don't stop watching/listening either. Also, drag your grandchildren to these concerts. Thanks :)
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Please tell me your stories/encounters with classical music concerts! Do you think it's dying? Or is it thriving? Let me know down here in the comments! Would love to read your experiences.
You are right Wilson. Classical music is going through a dark moment. Everything that is played in recitals is usually 100, 200, 300 years old, and rarely something new is played. There are only few that have been able to compose something new and changing.
The problem is that nowadays, people prefer a ton of other genres over classical music, simply because there's nothing new in classical music, and the few things that are new, are also very unkown.
This lasts years I have been composing, and I have gotten pretty good actually (my compositions are in my youtube channel btw), and something I want to achieve is to get people interested in classical music by composing something that's new.
Let's wish that classical music gets popular again. :)))
My story with concerts is that there's no story. I live in Brazil and I've been enjoying classical music for four years I would say. There's never been one single relevant classical music event in my city since, not even a rach concerto. Sad, but true.
the first time i noticed classical music concerts were dying was when a woman started to brush her daughter's hair in the middle of the second movement to Sibelius's violin concerto, as if she didn't care at all. my soul was raging, i'll tell you that much.
(also, there wasn't a single young person in sight besides the child and me)
Classical music certainly isn't dying nor will it ever. In say Bach's time his music was almost never played in public concerts, and now its known by millions, hundreds of years after it was composed. And he, nor would any composer have ever guessed that millions of people would be listening to the music that they composed.
To think classical music is dying is absurd, it never will, there will always be hundreds of thousands, millions of people listening and loving classical music. Not to mention the fact that there are so many young musicians today, hundreds of thousands! And there are so many known and successful young musicians today, more than there was at anytime in the world. And the easy access of all classical music. Think of how many people heard Beethoven's 9th symphony when it was composed and he was alive, maybe a few thousand, now today there are millions of people listen to his music everyday. Only certain classes of people could go to concerts back then and now we have all of that music at our hands. Id say most American's, almost all has heard or knows quite a few classical pieces. Everybody has heard the name's mozart, bach, beethoven, liszt, chopin, and everyone has heard there music at some point in there life and most likely enjoyed it, it may not be some peoples music genre of choice, but most people have listen to classical music and have enjoyed it.
There are hundreds of thousands of young people learning, listening, loving, and studying music in say college right now.
And that's absolutely amazing and classical music has never, NEVER been as known and thriving before. There WILL always be millions of people of ALL AGES listening, learning, and absolutely loving classical music. It will never die and to think so is absolutely absurd, it is thriving more than ever, there are more people listen to classical music than ever, there are more people pursuing music than ever! It will not die. Cardi b will be forgotten in 50 years, beethoven, chopin,liszt,bach,schubert,debussy,etc,etc,etc, will not, And hasn't been forgotten, and has and will continue to stand the test of time for thousands of years more, tupac, drake, what have you, will not.
Most of the billions of people on earth have listen to classical music and most of them can and do connect emotionally with classical music, and that is why it has stood the test of time with even more people than ever listing the the composers music. We are still the same human race as we were 50, 100, 500 some years ago, and we still connect with there music that was written then. And we will still continue to be the same human race for all time, and will still connect with that music written hundreds of years ago like have. To think that there is a bunch of old people at a concert means that classical music is going to die with them is, again, utterly absurd. There hundreds of thousands of young people studying, listening, practicing classical music right now. The pursuit of playing classical music is is at an all-time high, there are tens, hundreds thousands of young pianist, violinist, etc studying, working hard, practice, and going to school to become professionals at there instruments to play classical music professionally, of course not all of them will become professional but they will still play as armatures and still have a great passion for classical music. Every one of those young pianist you at the cliburn, chopin, rubenstein, Tchaikovsky competition become great and successful musicians, even the one that did win first. And there are more classical musicians today than there was anytime before. Almost every college, university in the world has degrees for classical music and people continue, more than ever, to take those classes. Its more available than ever to become a professional musician.
I can bet most people of the billions of people in the world know quite a few classical music themes, ode to joy, moonlight, pathatique, fantasie impromptu,etc, etc, rachmaninoff, chopin, liszt, mozart,etc,etc, billions of people know these themes by these composers hundreds of years after there death, i think beethoven, mozart, bach would consider that a job well done.
Again, classical music will never die, and to think so, again, is absurd and not thought through.
Im sure some people thought classical music was dying when they heard Debussy's music or even Beethoven because it was something different from what the know and thought that would destroy music, but, guess what, they didn't and billions of people have, do, and will continue to listen to there music for all time. You know bach's music was almost completely forgotten after he died, but we found it ,popularized it, played, loved it and many more young musicians spend hours of there valuable time learning all those pieces. So how can you really think its dying!?! It is thriving more than ever before. Just because pop is the mainstream and that all you hear about dosen't mean classical music is dead, more people have listened to classical music for hundreds, thousands of years, and to think cardi b's WAP is going to kill that, its almost laughable. It will, and, CANT die! Millions of people will continue to listen, study, play classical music for all of time because millions of people with continue to have and share a passion that they have, and billions more in the future will have that very same passion and devotion towards classical music, because its real music that comes from the composers sou and the people will always have an attachment,emotional connection to, and understanding of another mans suffering or joy that we can feel within us and that appeals to us hundreds of years after that composers death, bach to Stravinsky. It cant die, it wont die and it never will, because we are human, and we have feeling and emotions that only those composer can unleash within us, not WAP, that is why it has stood the test of time because we can connect with it no matter how we feel hundreds of year after that man died, and we can sympathize and feel what that composer did hundreds of year after he died. It bring tears to our eyes and smiles to our faces, and it picks us up from our lowest points because we can feel what that composer did hundreds of years after he died it can and has, even with me, turn someone away from suicide, because that music is pure emotion from the human condition that the composer, a human like us, poured all his suffering his joy his passion his emotion into to that sound that is music. Now that is something special and billions of people have felt that special feeling, it really is profound and whether your religious or not we feel a certain innate spiritual connection with that music. It makes us venerable, and that one of the reasons there are so many old people at concerts, there old they don't really care about being venerable in public but young people generally do, the don't want to be venerable infront of there friends because when your young that's all most people care about, they make there friends themselves, so they dont want to be venerable infront of them, but old people don't generally really care about what there friends think because there wiser than the young person, so that's why you will often find more older people at concerts. There old they are going to die sooner than the young person is so they don't care about what there friends, there not so afraid to maybe cry a little if a performance is emotionally striking, but a young person cares about what there friends think and how the socially excepted, you don't care about that if your life is three quarters up because its petty to care. There are still millions of young people who listen and love classical music and will be those old people at the concert with those young pianists playing the piano for them, as it has for hundreds of years and will continue as so for the rest of time. Classical music wont, cant die, there will always be millions of people who listen and play classical music till the end of time. So you font have to worry, because we wont be listening to WAP in 500 hundred years, but you know what will be listen to bye millions, BINGO, classical music! Its is eternal, millions of people will always love it!
So i hope you worry a little less.
I can appreciate your appreciation of classical music and i am actually subscribed, but i can assure you, classical music will not die! And im really sick of channels thinking/acting like it will, its silly! If you cant kill it, it cant die, and Cardi b cant kill something that has lasted thousands of years, and no other music can either! It is impossible for it to just dissipate from likely, just because its not ,i guess you could say popular to the young masses on social media, doesn't mean there aren't millions if young people who don't love classical music, because there are ,and they will continue to listen to and perform this music for hundreds, thousands of year to come!
😉👍
Id love to hear your replies.
@@ellaritter No shot 😭
i feel like there’s a stigma around associating with classical music. in primary school, i was bullied by both the teacher and students in my classes for listening to classical music in my free periods.
It's so unfair. And if you say you like classical music better than other things like pop music because it's more sophisticated you get laughed in your face because you're bragging
You're far superior than the others
WHAT GOSH..not saying that classical music must be better than pop, but you are truly a better soul than them... Bless you
@@firstnamelastname6071 feeling superior over others for listening to different music is just stupid bro. Classical music already has an elite stigma, why further distance this gap? If you want the music thrive again, stop being snobby over it
@@firstnamelastname6071 morally, that may slightly be true haha 😅 but elitism is already associated with classical music heavily and someone’s taste in music shouldn’t judge their superiority.
Dude you made me cry. To all the people smartassing how classical music never dies. IT DIDN'T SO FAR because of the few people who fought to unveal its intricate beauty to the uninitiated ear. So yes, we need to keep fighting for it, no matter what.
I agree, but I think that RUclips (and the internet in general) will be a powerful ally, separated at least to an extent from the dangerous stereotypes promulgated by other media to the general public. Moreover I think that there will always be curious people willing to explore a more complex type of music than pop (not to say that classical is the only type of complex music, but often such music, like progressive rock or heavy metal, has been partially inspired by classical music).
I think that more people than ever are getting into classical music. Classical music was never in history the popular choice.
@@tomliu3092 in certain places, yes. It's never supposed to be "popular" - I'm actually a bit afraid of sensationalistic approach to popularizing it, which seems to be a certain niche tendency now. It's often either either snobby elitistic or dumbed down to kind of new tourism. That's not real art, that's all just entertainment...
Yes now I'm thinking to open an account promoting classical music of all periods.
@@T-J-S go for it, often entertaining the same idea myself..
Classical music never dies. The earth just runs out of people to appreciate it, which I my own self thinks it’s ridiculous. My favorite classical composer is Prokofiev.
Mine is Chopin :>
cool i like mahler
I like Bach, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky
Mendelssohn
For me gonna have to be Liszt, Ravel, Sarasate, prokofiev, and mendelssohn
This year, my wonderful girlfriend suggested to me: "you've loved classical music for so long, but you only listen at home. Why don't you go to a local concert?" I was like, wow how come that thought never occurred to me?
So I did. Our local orchestra isn't super renowned like Berlin Phil or Vienna Phil, but it did a phenomenal job and I was quite impressed. I've since gone to another, and plan to go to another two this season. The concerts were completely sold out, but they were mostly older folks as you observed. Despite this, I would hesitate to conclude from this that classical music is dying. I just think that for many people, classical music is something that you learn to appreciate as you get older.
I agree, I always see quiet a lot younger people in the audience. I think one of the main problems isn't that the music is too complex or "old" (which it isn't),
but that people don't feel like they belong there, you know a grand fancy concert hall with a kinda stiff high class atmosphere.
Channels like this are great ways to break this barrier, to make the music part of peoples life.
Just want to point out that some of us oldies make a rush for the door because we need to use the toilets before we head home, or we don’t want to be caught in a crush on the stairs on unsteady feet, or we want to get our car out of the car park before it gets too busy to back out easily. 😊
Definitely something you appreciate as you get older. I find that if you learn to play an instrument and learn classical pieces at a young age, you're more likely to be interested in going to the symphony because you recognize the music and can hear how they may play it differently than you have. You recognize interesting variations or the intensity and power that you don't get from hearing or playing it at home.
I’m 19 and loved classical music my whole life since I was a kid and I’ve learned to ignore what others think because I truly enjoy it and that’s what matters.
Same, i am also 19 and i love classical music, but i like it since one or two years ago, i have never been exposed to it by anyone, had to discover by myself and it was glorious :)
I too love classical music. In fact, it’s about all I listen to. Sometimes people have told me to listen to other stuff as well, but it’s my choice as to what I want to hear. If I want to listen to one genre, I can. Music has many genres, so pick the one that makes you happy
i used to be embarrassed to tell people classical music is pretty much all i listen to because i’m young and it’s not “cool” but the older i get the more comfortable i’m getting with sharing that. i’m still always the youngest person at every concert
yupppp
same
Lol I was the opposite, I was extremely snarky, constantly making others sure that I like Classical
It aint really a good thing to listen to one genre though
Same i listen to classical music but i think If i say i listen to It i wont be considiered a "cool" guy
Also, don’t forget about those aesthetic music compilations popping up on RUclips lately. Like “you’re a villain in the 19th century” I think those are getting younger people into classical music.
i live in shanghai and i can tell that classical music here is definitely thriving. every concert contains at least 50% below 50 yrs old and i have so many friends who study classical music
I attended András Schiff's Recital at Disney Concert Hall few nights ago. Was actually very surprised to see YOUNG children (7-8 years old's) attending with their parents. Yes, at least half of the audiences are seniors but there we're many young adults as well.
Mr. Schiff performed total of 2 hours and 40 minutes ( not including intermission ) 2 Bach's, Hayden, 2 Beethoven's, Mozart and then Schubert's Sonata in A Major, D959. When/ where was D959 performed in a concert anywhere lately?
He is truly a great Master.
Audiences not only get to enjoy his performances but also learned as Mr. Schiff explained each piece he chooses to play.
This was the best of the 17 concerts I attended at Disney Hall in the last 12 months.
I think the attendance level speaks for itself of how Mr. Schiff is being appreciated for his exemplary tirelessly spreading/ sharing his love of Classical Piano.
where I live most kids go through that and pretty much none of them listen to classicak music ever again
@@EntelSidious_gamzeylmz
They may detour to experience different types of music but very likely the Classical Music will re-appear in their life later. An example is many people find/re-discovered the calming/comfort of Classical Music during Covid lockdown. Maturity/life experiences may also help. At least a seed was planted while these kids were young.
@@Traumfanblueheron yea a seed of remebering classical music as something your parents made you listen to when you didnt want to
great memories later in life
@@EntelSidious_gamzeylmz
As I said, maturity and life experiences may allow them to re- appreciate both the Classical Music and what was foreseen as forced seed planning.
Many older people don't attend concerts for the sake of social interaction, there are plenty who actually enjoy and appreciate this art!
Schiff is a memorizing machine. Huge bach.
I just recently attended my favorite violinist’s(Hilary Hahn) concert, I’m 16 and love classical. There were a few young people but most of the people there were very old. All my friends ridicule me for my music taste. I really do hope classical music can last!
My friends ridicule me for listening to classical music too. I am also a teenager.
That's surprising to me, i listen to a couple genres and one of them is classical. My friends say a couple jokes about it but that's it, find good friends mate who accept your music preferences
If classical music dies so too does all music. I agree it’s a problem. 80 years ago the amount of households in America that owned a piano must have been at least triple. We are basically relying on public schools to expose children to classical music and it’s an optional elective in most places, and it’s not a really trendy one to be in, AND it’s severely underfunded.
The situation is actually a bit better in parts of Europe in Asia though.
classical music “died” exactly because of this just by giving somethşng exposition you cant make it thrive, you can only make it remembered for some time. people need to be interested and actively listen, and with classical music that just isnt the case
I agree on the last part - i live in Asia and im 13, and lots of my peers are into classical music and theres even special music programmes offered in school. In fact, some of my friends do attend concerts if they are able to
I think introducing classical music in schools is the worst thing to do. Think about it, most children always think low of whatever school is showing to them, even if it's some genius books or wonderful music. The fact that school is introducing it to them automatically makes it non relevant in their minds.
@@anti64 that doesnt seem to be the case here lol. Why should we think that the stuff schools teach us is irrelevant?
@@hoogreen Well it is here in France at least. The majority of kids here will think low of school and more generally of any authority. If school is trying to get them to like something, it'll have that opposite effect as they will see it as "something for old people" or "something that's trying to appeal to me in cringy ways". I guess it's in our french DNA to constantly have a critical look regarding authority figures lol
In India, we believe Indian classical music will never die because it’s a music that is not meant for everyone, it’s music that’s meant only for people who seek it, and these are the people who have kept it alive for thousands of years.
And I think that’s true for western classical music as well!
Agreed! Something does not die just because it may not be for everyone.
I am one of those who is 105 yrs. Since the pandemic resources and the geopolitical climate has changed for all of us. You see older people at classical concerts because a lot of us don't have to go to work the next day. We don't have the same responsibilities of a few years ago. Classical music is something one can attend and if our hearing is fine we can listen to its sound. What older people lose later in life is mobility. So I am off to walk and attend the gym and listen to baroque, classical, romantic, and later composed music. And don't forget Andrea Cicalese from Munich (Italy) who bringing us music too.
Don't forget ' Living the Classical life' on social media. So many people are listening to the digital formats today. And these young musicians are using all these formats to get their music out there. So keep up the good job as I can enjoy this device in my hand listening to Renaissance music to the latest musical event from a school of music to a music conservatory who now broadcast their performances online. Music is alive!
I personally think it will continue. People are still enjoying Vivaldi, and Albinoni, and Mozart after all these years. Puccini and Verdi operas continue to be performed worldwide. Yes, it's a small percentage of music lovers , but a dedicated audience. As for Alexander, there is a performance of Rach 3 and a recent performance of Prokofiev 's piano concerto 3 that are stunning. I listen to them over and over. They are so alive and fresh and bring me so much pleasure and joy.
Something that really makes me sad and is that I bought tickets to watch Nelson Freire live playing Beethoven's Emperor. For Brazil - unanimously - Nelson was the best pianist of the country in history. His concerts used to be the event of the year and getting tickets for him used to be very difficult as they all used to sell out quickly. I bought my ticket and I was really anxious. However, one month BEFORE the concert he fell while doing a morning walk in Rio de Janeiro and broke his arm. The concert was cancelled and I got really pissed off. 4 months after, during his recovery, the pandemic starts and he has to cancel all his concerts. Last year, while having a really hard depression because he couldn't perform concerts anymore, he passed away. This marked my life and I will take it with me all my life, because I keep thinking what it would be like if none of this had happened.
Hadn't heard of him so went off to search. Saw a video of him and Martha Argerich---she used cologne to clean his piano's keys! I like that he likes jazz, too. Seems to have been a chain smoker. RIP
I’m 32. I’ve been listening to classical music my whole life since my mother used to play it to put me to sleep. If I could only listen to one type of music for the rest of my life it would be classical. Nothing else conveys the deep emotion of the human spirit like classical music. I also love soundtrack music for movies. I just recently went to a John Williams concert. To me that’s modern day classical music that is still being made. I really hope people will love it as much as we do in the future. 🤞
The force is strong in classical music.
I love your atomic enthusiasm. Music is within you. It grows. It can overwhelm. You feel the composer. And then more. And you see and sense the likes of Alexander say reaching for everything they can inside the piece and receiving / exploring it and then - whoosh - we get it. For me - piano from 8 - and then the concert grand at school ignited me. Ruined it when I took on the organ at 14 but hey that's another story. Oh and concerts monthly ......Today I have RUclips. I can see every note ...feel it all. Know what 'they' can do. And I have the likes of you. Just as well. I am one of the oldies - money is used for bills, food and clothing these days. Concerts are 'out of reach'. But if Alexander was nearby....phone call to family.
Alexander is so gifted. How wonderful you saw him! I don't think classical music is dead. Thinking people will never let it die. I have my parents to thank for exposing me to this artform at a very early age.
I think you made some very valid points through your observations. I wonder if the classical music "decline" is focused primarily in the US? Are Europe and Asian countries experiencing the same decline? Certainly, the pandemic might have something to do with this, but also social media platforms, like YT, can stream concerts, operas, etc without having to leave our homes. As some commenters opined, classical music may not be in vogue, but there will always be a core of dedicated concert goers and lovers of classical music. I also think classical music/opera/oratorios, requires patience and understanding. Unfortunately, many want immediate gratification which classical music does not proffer.
Piergiorgio, you are the future and your love and passion for classical music can catalyze other young people to love it. Keep up the excellent work.
Isn't it just that people just get to know / start to appreciate classical music later in their lives? Then it doesnt die. At least that's how I've understood it so far
Classical music is not dying. It has been always for a very small group of people that appreciates it. Think about who listened to classical music 50 or 100 years ago. I agree that it is upsetting that no younger goes to concerts, except a small group of youngers. But that's what it is.
My best friend and I are both musicians in our 20’s and our families have always gotten season tickets for our local Philharmonic orchestra performances. We have been going to them since the mid 00’s when we were children and it was the same back then, we were surrounded mostly by old people.
Plus, we were often teased at school and our social status was taken down a peg or two by the fact we were both classical musicians and not sports jocks or rock players. We were lucky though since we knew people from other schools who were physically bullied and were social outcasts because they were into classical music.
However, I feel that the tide is beginning to turn. In recent years, there has been an increase in more generous discount ticket schemes for students and people under 25/30 in many major venues in the U.K. like Wigmore Hall, Barbican among others and from my observation that seems to have coincided with a visible increase in younger people attending classical concerts. I hear that the same thing is happening in other countries too.
The last two Evgeny Kissin recitals in London I attended, plus the most recent ones of Yuja Wang and Khatia Buniatishvili were chock full of young music students, classical music fans and children too. The sheer enthusiasm and reception at each concert was palpable, the crowds were rapturously cheering for as many encores as they could get.
This, in addition to the amazing work you and other classical music ambassadors like twoset, Tiffany Poon etc. have done and the explosion of classical music memes in the last year gives me great hope for the future of classical music.
Here in Shanghai, classical music concerts and recitals are held very frequently. Within the audiences, young people are definitely not a minority. China was introduced to classical music in relatively late period, so i would say classical music is still developing in China. There are basically three kinds of young people that can be seen in the concert: young kid who plays instrument (there are a lot cause chinese parents love forcing their children to learn an instrument), conservatory students, and the ones who are just very into classical music (like me, age17). It's very pleasant to see that every time after a concert, there are a lot of young people crowded outside the stage door waiting for the soloist/musicians to come out and ask for signature, even have a short conversation with them. At the mean while waiting, I can here people discuss and make comments on the concert. The atmosphere is quite good. It's interesting that basically every time I go to a concert, I can see people in twoset apparel. I appreciate their contribution in promoting classical music among young people.
i live in ningbo, china right now as a foreigner who doesn't speak mandarin. i REALY would love to attend a classical music concert someday, but i just have no idea where😭😭
I feel this! I'm 18 and fell in love with classical music 3 years ago. Now I'm studying it with tons of excitement, but the thing I'm noticing in my uni, is how most people don't have that same passion for it. They're studying it because they have to, because they've been to conservatories and need to go through this task in order to get their license and do something that has nothing to do with classical music.
I want to become a composer and help revive classical music to the young audience. Something as simple as using a melody from a forgotten piece in your work is very meaningful to me. It gives to it a new life, and possibly a new audience for people interested enough to look it up.
I'm 14 and I love classical music, because my parents introduced it to me and I took it from there, I love the works of the Early Romantics, like Mendelssohn, Schumann, Schubert, Chopin, Lizst etc, but Ialso enjoy the works of the Late Classical and Proto-Romantics (if there is even such a term), like Mozart, Beethoven and Hummel.
I use it for everything, but most times I just listen for the sake of listening, because of its complex harmonies, inner melodies, beautiful passages and the feeling it exudes. It's nothing like modern music, and I think modern music will never reach the emotional depth of expression that Classical Music does. I'll never stop listening to it, and I can't because I find new pieces and composers every day, like I never truly liked Beethoven because I felt he was too overrated. But after revisiting his symphony cycle on period instruments, I realized I was wrong. I found Poulenc through his famous D minor Concerto for 2 Pianos, which I found to be unique from what I've heard and intriguing.
Classical Music feels real and grounded in nature, almost painfully so, like in the works of Chopin (such as the Chorale of the Fantasie Impromptu, and both famous nocturnes in C# minor and E flat minor.) On period instruments (which is what I use more, except for Romantic Composers like Chopin and above), I feel the earthy tones and resonance which is completely lost within the frenzy cashgrab that is modern music.
Romantic orchestral and piano works fills me with a longing for those times and better times of mine. It breaks you and builds you back up in tears. It's exciting, thrilling, almost to the point where i move with the music. But in the end it leaves you thinking. Music today can't. It just makes you feel good.
As a history person I frequently find myself listening to music while researching the person and environment they lived in, the Revolutionary Etude filled with the anger and tragic disappointment of a Polish composer whose countrymen have failed to liberate themselves from the Russian Empire in 1830. The works of Mozart and how most of the places he performed in were lost to time, either to Allied bombings during the Second World War, or to urban replanning and sprawl (i.e. what happened to the original Burgtheater). We can even use Mahler, who was a Austrian-born Sudeten German (words that, due to the actions of the Third Reich, both nullified and dated the individual words and their coherence as a whole), and how the land he grew up in would later be stripped of her German inhabitants. I look at Schumann and how he lived in a time of political turmoil as the German-speaking lands tried to figure out what to do in a Post-Napoleonic age.
The struggle of empires and ideologies forged Classical Music, the aristocratic system reflected in the order of Baroque and Early Classical Music replaced with the revolutionary spirit of the Romantic Era. And in all of these things, classical music has endured and even bears testimony to the struggles and heroism of the past. The music of today could never reach that level and at best are forgotten within the next decade or two. The timeless, depth, and outreach is something I'll never leave.
(Thanks for reading this long post, I carried on more than was expected.)
Exceptional writing! Thank you for sharing.
Since you enjoy period instruments, it really brings out the Full flavors of Schubert's Sonatas.
@Naomi :) I have been listening to unpopular ones, trying to expand my knowledge of classical music, Hummel's severely underrated, You could even say that the works of Czerny when taken out of just the concept of teaching, stand pretty well. Most times though, I just look for lesser known pieces among popular composers
I can't agree more!
Classical music will never die. Opera houses and symphony halls all throughout the world are always full-house and yes, there are plenty of young people. It will never be appreciated by the masses, but it never was at any point during its history.
Exactly, sir gfgf fgff
.. the same could be said of jazz. folk, country and ethnic musics from different countries. Why not sample all of it!
Never appreciated by the masses, outside of east Asia.
Hello, friend. A few points, from the perspective of a 32-year-old, professional classical musician optimist:
1. This question of audiences getting too old and dying out has been around for generations - and yet the same faithful grey-headed throngs keep showing up! I don't know why or how, but they seem to be replenishing themselves (I hope that wasn't too tasteless a phrasing).
2. One possible reason: at a certain point, people start to feel out of touch with youth culture, so they find themselves sticking with what was good when they were young. It's already happening to me. Maybe an even more extreme version happens when we get even older. Anyway, since the mainstream has left them behind (or they've opted out of it), that's when they turn to the classics in all areas - literature, old films, old music... Just a theory.
3. Classical music will never really die. This is music that's so good, it's survived for centuries when everything else around it faded into obscurity.
4. If anything, I'd say that it was during the last couple of generations that it was under the most threat; the CD and DVD days. People didn't have access to channels like yours. You and your colleagues are going to be the reason that kids get interested again and the graph goes back up in the future. Keep it up, and thank you for what you do.
I'm a student and I definitely relate to the situation of being in a sea of seniors in the audience seats for a classical concert. Most of my friends are not fans of classical music but they know of TwoSetViolin and their content, and I was always thought that it would be a chance to share more of my love for classical music but unfortunately many of them seem to only be interested in the humour/meme side of things, but miss out the whole point of them trying to spread the awareness of classical music in the first place (but I also can't blame them for viewing their content as such given the direction of their content over the few years), but I believe that there are still younger people out there who also genuinely love classical music and in their small ways will continue to share their passions with others and invite them to concerts :))
I'm going to see James Ehnes this Friday with my friend and I really can't wait ! Hope I will have an experience as amazing as yours :)
I'm 25 too and when I attend to concerts I'm usually one of the youngest people on there, it's a little sad but I hope it changes over time
Greetings from another fellow musician in México
I was delighted to come across this blog entry of yours just now and discover another person as passionate a fan of Alexander Malofeev as I am. I've followed him since he was very small and just beginning to capture the world's attention as a child prodigy. I think I've heard everything of his available on RUclips. I'm 82 and largely housebound, but I went through the entire Covid lockdown without complaining thanks to the opportunity it provided me to listen to the likes of Alexander, listening to some pieces over and over again and never tiring. I have my piano artist favorites - Yuja Wang, Martha Argerich, Garrick Ohlsen, the Jussen Brothers (and that's just for starters) and my Sasha performance favorites: the Poulenc Concerto for Two Pianos he played with Sandro Nebieridze and the Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Pas de Deux (again, just for starters). Can never get enough. As for the age of the audiences, let me suggest that money and time have a lot to do with it. Older people can afford concerts more easily than young people. They also have the time when they're retired. Also, you have to allow young people time to cultivate an appreciation of all that's involved in producing music written by the likes of Chopin and Liszt and Rachmaninoff, which, as you know, sometimes calls for superhuman talent and technical skill. I think your conclusion that classical music is dead or dying is too hasty. Give young people time. I'm now looking forward to seeing what your other contributions to your channel are. Again, I love your passion and appreciate your desire to share it with the world.
I've been a passionate music fan for most of my life (listening to rock, jazz, blues, folk music etc) but it was only in recent years that I got heavily into classical music so I started going to classical music concerts more or less regularly at the age of 37. A part of me feels guilty I didn't discover this joy earlier and I think it partly has to do with how classical music is presented in the media to the point where most people take it for granted or find it boring. We all know the famous parts but they have been so commercialized that we don't even pay enough heed to the works they originally come from. I can only hope that more people have the same pathway of discovery that I took and that the older audiences will be gradually replaced.
It might not have to do with audience not knowing Medtner. It’s old people gotta make it home on their schedule, catching trains and such. It’s disheartening, but it happens.
I totally agree. It was the only reason I could come up with as well :/
nah they just sucks + they reinforce the status quo
Thank you so much for what you do! It’s so nice to find you from tonic! ❤❤❤
This is a very sad thing and it actually shows a lot about society. The fact that the most beautiful music we can hear on Earth is the least appreciated or even dying proves that society lacks any values and people dont apreciate beauty anymore or they've dont know what beauty is. We live in an era with false values...just another proof that humanity is going downhill.
5 months ago i saw Evgeny Kissin perform in Philadelphia. It was a phenomenal concert. I went with a friend who is also a huge Kissin fan. Though I would say the majority of the people in attendance were likely over the age of 55, we were surprised to see as many young people as we did, and we even made a friend who is around our age too. That being said, it really is a shame that more younger people don't engage in classical music. Classical music will never fully die, but its circle of listeners will surely shrink to unprecedented levels, which is still a depressing thought. But fellas like you and, as you said, twoset tonebase, are doing good work keeping it alive :)
Yep, I have the same experience at QPAC in Brisbane, Australia. Whenever I go to see a performance or recital - and there are literally thousands of seats - I barely notice anyone below 25. There obviously are young classical musicians, because I have met some, but it's very rare.
Haha I was actually already setting up to practice while watching the part where you mention it xD
I'm not under 25 (27 atm) but I think there might be more hope than you think. I see a lot of young people at Church enjoying, believe it or not, renaissance polyphony music and old organ works. Different parishes in my area have been hosting organ concerts in the past year or so. I went to a music symposium in the summer of ~80 singers/choir directors and a large portion of the attendees were young people, including several minors. There's plenty of music school students in conservatories and universities around the world and as you mention, music social media accounts don't do too bad. I suppose with the passing of more time we'll see whether it's truly growing or not.
Malofeev was here in Seoul in September and all generations enjoyed and cheered his performances. He ended up performing 5 encores.
I agree to every sentences you say! I think medias (like your channel) have to keep spreading the news, what heros these musicians are. Keep up the good work!
(You have to tell me the title of the music coming at 04:29 ! 😍 I assume the performer is Malofeev. )
I love your passion and mission. I hope you prevail and reach the younger audience. In addition teach them proper etiquette at a classical performance. I’m 56 and I completely understand and have witnessed what you just described. Even at my age, my friends think I’m a dinosaur for listening to and passionately playing classical guitar. BTW, it doesn’t mean I’m any good but my heart’s there. Thanks to performers such as 2 Cellos, Two Set Violin and a few others they are reaching a younger audience. It may be in a different form but none the less it’s Classical. Maybe you’re the guy that can change classical piano. Whenever, I have an opportunity I play and educate people regarding classical music. My efforts are minuscule given the fact I don’t have a following or have opportunities to perform for a significant audience. Stay motivated and focused because your fight is a good one. Good luck on your worthwhile and desperately needed attention to classical music. Best of luck!
I have gone to a few concerts here in the Netherlands and I do agree that it is mostly old people that still attend them. It is just a fact that there are less young people that listen to classical music, which thus also leads to less young people at the concerts. I do truly think that the concerts are great and people should definitely go to them. I hope that our generation also evolves to an age where more people appreciate classical music and we thus continue this cycle of concerts filled with old people.
This may just be us getting older, but my brother and I have both noticed more young people at classical music concerts here in the UK. The BBC Proms seem to be particularly good for this, perhaps because they’re so well advertised and the environment is that little bit more informal. That being said, there is definitely a massive issue with funding of music education in schools which is of course key to getting young people interested in classical music.
been to two classical concerts this year and i’ve seen loads of young (or young enough) people ! when it comes to this topic, i’m a bit of an optimist so i think classical music is coming back in some ways through social media, and i guess you can’t really say it’s dead if you’re living proof that it can still resonate with young people today. i try my best to do my part in keeping it alive and i can say that it for sure can live on if you pester your friends enough (i’ve tried it and it works).
"it keeps classical music 'hip'."
all jokes aside, i love your channel and i really hope classical music doesnt die :((
I went to an orchestra concert once where the elderly man in front of me kept on nodding off. When his chin would hit his chest, his wife, who was sitting next to him would give him a violent nudge. At which point he would geniusly blend his startledness with an appreciation shake/groove to the music...which then would dissipate into a nodding off again. And the whole cycle would repeat again. I had to leave the hall because I couldn't contain myself.
From Peter Brook's "Empty Space" :
"It is always the popular theatre that saves the day. Through the ages it has taken many forms, and there is only one factor that they all have in common - a roughness. Salt, sweat, noise, smell: the theatre that's not in a theatre, the theatre on carts, on wagons, on trestles, audiences standing, drinking, sitting round tables, audiences joining in, answering back: theatre in back rooms, upstairs rooms, barns; the one-night stands, the torn sheet pinned up across the hall, the battered screen to conceal the quick changes - that one generic term, theatre, covers all this and the sparkling chandeliers too."
This is exactly the energy that classical music is missing. It's ALL sparkling chandeliers. Leave your damn tuxedo at home. Don't patiently wait for all three movements of a concerto to be over until you're "allowed" to applaud. Have a little more fun. Play out on the street, play in parks, have some style. Then maybe it survives.
I’m going to a Yunchan Lim concert tomorrow in Houston, I’ll tell y’all how it went
What does/did he play? Im very much interested in going to one of his concerts.
I'm 61. When I was your age I was more interested in Led Zeppelin than Rach. Now, I'm on my second year of piano lessons and really appreciate classical piano even more as a result of that.
I see this channel maturing since the Rach3 video, Kudos!
Regarding the video, in my area this happens as well (other than opera concerts, because I'm in Italy), and it is creepy, but I know that channels like you - 2 Set Violin in particular - are moving the trend to another direction; the real problem is, they're all English-speaking channels. Not a problem for me, since I learned this language - mainly through the internet -, but it is a great deal for almost all of my peers: we haven't got a " Piergiorgio _Villisoni_ " that talks and jokes on this wonderful topic, no "2 Violini a Posto" to publish hilarious videos, and not even a "Tiffania Punnì" who gives us beautiful interpretations and detailed analysis of the great composers' work. And this, this makes the effort of people like you completely vane.
I hope I've been clear.
I only ever listen to Baroque solo instrumental and Renaissance polyphonic vocal music. I’ve only met one friend in my life who shared a love for it.
I went to a “Bach family reunion” concert recently (I’m 15) and as well as playing music from Bach’s father, Bach himself, and his sons, they played a set of variations based on the “B-A-C-H” motif written by a relatively modern composer, and when I left the concert hall I heard an old lady say to a friend “Well, I didn’t like all that modern stuff”. That was her one takeaway.
a few weeks ago, i went to a classical music concert, specifically Handel’s Messiah (pls go watch if u haven’t 😍) and i was the only person of colour and under 18 there 😭
You mean “Handel’s Messiah “ ! 😊
@@loveispatient0808 my mistake ahahah
The yearly Proms classical music concert here in the UK is still going strong, the audience is never exclusively old people.
As a senior who enjoys your videos, Piergiorgio, I want to share something with you. Hardly anyone in the audience has your knowledge, and no one equals your enthusiasm. Seniors fill up concert halls for one main reason - it's a nice excuse to get out of the house. They're seniors, they're not working, they have find things to do. They're rich and cultivated enough to go to a concert, God bless 'em. And they know they should stay to the end. And then most of them had had their fill and they want to get back home, which is something seniors need to do more than younger people. It was that way fifty years ago. And in twenty years, your father's generation will be filling the hall for the same reasons I already stated. Keep up the good work!
As far as I’ve experienced, you’re completely right, I got into classical as a 2 year old thanks to little einsteins, whenever I think of this show all I feel is gratitude and happiness, I have a LOT of acquintances at school but out of everyone I only know a single person who also listens and appreciates classical music. I have a strong feeling that others are held back by stereotypes and mostly just ignorance, even everyone who did music theory as a kid, classical is easily misunderstood because people don’t take the time to listen and/or care too much about what others think of their taste, especially in school. We can not let this art die out for sure!
I go to a lot of classical concerts here in Denmark, as well as operas (im 17 btw) and while its true that most attending the concerts or operas are over the age of 60, there are quite a number of people around the 20 to 30 age. The concert I went to a week ago played Ravel and Brahms, pavane, piano concerto in g major and symphony 5, and there were actually quite a number of people at my age. So imo classical music will continue to live on
I clicked on this video hoping to laugh at the pessimistic view, but I continued to watch because I loved how you presented it, and your point. I'm a younger person, I upload classical music, and checking my statistics, around 70% of my views are over the age of 65. It is a shame that younger people totally overlook the genre, and I'm thankful for people on the internet like you or Twoset Violin trying to spread classical music to a wider audience. Classical music isn't dead until we stop trying to revive it.
My grandfather attended several Vladimir Horowitz concerts ( including 1978, Toronto - there's a recording of it on RUclips) and I was always struck by his description of them. People trying to buy tickets on the afternoon for several times the purchase price, people queueing up early in the morning, and during the concert itself, a sense of electricity coursing through the audience, an applause that felt like it would bring the roof down & people shouting for more encores long after Horowitz had left the stage.
Are there any classical performers that attract such attention nowadays?
Classical music has been declared dead or dying many times in the past 100 years and yet it is still here. The lament about old/dying audiences goes back many decades, and yet the cycle continues because the next pool of slightly younger old folk age up into the audience as time goes by. I play in a professional orchestra so I see many audiences. Many skew older with few young people, but you’d be surprised how many younger folk show up pretty often to all kinds of concerts. The fact is most people have the time/money/appreciation once they get a little older to attend live concerts. It’s the money part that allows orchestras to stay funded so it can remain a vocation for professional musicians so that high level performers and performances can exist for everyone to enjoy. As long as young people (like you) keep the enthusiasm and pass it on to your friends and those younger than you as well (as you are ), I know orchestras and the like will be just fine. Thanks for your content!
There is a stigma around classical music still. Ether it's named "boring" or "old". I listen to classical music all the time. I love it. I think classical music is getting more accepted in a mainstream way but VERY slowly but surely. With thanks to people like you :) and TwosetViolin, young classical musicians posting on social media, and now since the Cliburn, i have seen multiple posts of people saying that Yunchan Lim has attracted them (who did not listen to classical music) are now interested because of him. So I do not think classical music will die but sadly i think it might always have a stigma around it no matter how much of a improvement there is. Which is just so sad.
Thanks for this video and I appreciate your concern. For many years now we have been hearing about the 'death of Classical Music", but it seems to survive anyway. In the US there is still support for orchestras in the larger cities and in many medium-size ones, but most Americans never give Classical a second thought. When you mention music, Classical is the last category they think of (if they think of it at all). However: in Europe and Asia (China, Korea, Japan especially) it thrives. I attended grad school in music (Classical) when I was a lot older than the other students. This was in the mid-1990s, and I can tell you there were a lot of younger people interested in Classical. Many were from other countries and some of those, or many of them, returned to their home countries to teach and/or perform. Classical was always appreicated by a minority of the population. When I worked in record retail, Classical was 3% of the market for recordings, yet it sold steadily. Fortunately we will always have the great recordings and videos on RUclips. If you look at some of the RUclips videos of concerts where they show the audience, you'll see younger people mixed in with the older crowd, so there is still hope
When I was growing up TV networks (there were only four then!) actually broadcast classical performances (Bernstein, Horowitz, Richter, Rastropovitch, Oistrakh), and classical and jazz were taught in schools, usually from grade 2. All cities of any size had a symphony orchestra and concerts were well attended. All of this started to fade after the 1970s. So that's what happened to the audiences for 'classical'. My piano teacher also owned the Yamaha dealership. By 1973 he couldn't survive anymore from either teaching or selling grand pianos.
Omg, I went to one of his recitals in Zurich and brought two friends and we were by far the youngest too but he was way too stunning ! anyways just bring friends , even if they aren’t into classical music especially since the student prices are so good and my experience was always so great like once they hear classical music live (especially with an orchestra) they’ll be mesmerised too❤
I lived in C’ville for two years, and had no idea there were quality concerts there! Really bummed I just moved a few months ago
I feel you haha. Went to see some a few opera performances this summer and those are even more full of old people than the classical music performances I've been to lol. I think the second youngest person there must've been my mom who I was going with (50 yo)
Basically just a fight to keep classical music alive, this is only because of the stereotypes surrounding classical music which is destroying it's popularity.
I had a fun little experience once while driving out to visit a friend in BC, Canada. It was getting late and I didn't plan properly. I found myself going up and down the mountain roads in the black of night, watching the gas gague dwindle with no clue how far I was from the next gas station. Driving up and down the roads, anxious about being stranded in the forest in the middle of the night, I was just rolling on the declines to save gas.
I was listening to Murray Perahia playing Schubert sonatas, and turning up the volume to hear the quiet parts. Of course that means it's completely cranked to max volume. When I thankfully rolled into a gas station, mind fuzzy from concern and sleepiness, I was surprised by some 20-something fellows at the gas station who complimented the music they heard blaring from my van.
So... don't lose hope. Although it's somewhat ancient music, people will still recognize quality when they hear it!
There’s always going to be a small audience for excellence, which will almost always be made up of older people. Their attitudes toward classical culture morph from generation to generation, but generally they’re the ones who keep it alive. Great that you were there, great that you get how life-changing this music is-but you’re the rare exception. Good on you.
But it was always like that: old people who can afford the tickets and music students in the cheap seats.
Getting more into it and I really want to continue learning piano
When I was a kid around four I heard a piece of Chopin, not too much mind you. But I found it to be beautiful. Through films I saw more, in high school I wrote an essay on listening to some pianist before I slept. I wrote on how I would not be able to distinguishes when I faded into the unconscious. Only whenever I was 19 I listened to the 9th symphony for the first time. And it blew my mind. Now I am 20, I recognize about what this guy pointed out in his video. It’s a shame that people who have never heard these pieces, choose not to go and find out. Good stuff, thanks for the video.
Delightful!
I was able to get most of my friends to go to concerts and appreciate classical music the first time they went to a classical concert outside of a field trip we were watching Stravinsky's Firebird and when they got there one said "I'm noticing most these people are not our age" I'm like yeah but I assure you you'll love it and they loved it we have been attending more classical concerts, plays, etc more often this past year. Also at my highschool I've ran into alot more classical musicians than I thought (just attending a public highschool, not even a music or art school). Like in the music room where I go at lunch almost everyday, I ran into a fellow student practicing Heroic Polinaise by Chopin and he sounded really good. Classical Music is just idk it's so nice it has a feeling no other music can give you. A good feeling, I cant really describe it. But yeah, classical music is just absolutely wonderful. There may be bias cause uh I've been cracking my ass off for about 6 approaching 7 years on almost nothing but classical music for piano. But besides that it is just great.
Edit: call me a stereotypical concert attendee but for christ sake for me it's a tradition. Me and my friends are going to watch Tchaikovskys Nutcracker coming Decemeber 9th. Which I dont believe they have ever seen. I've seen it a few times before. I'm sure they'll like it.
I just went to see Peter Donohoe perform Rach 1 and Rach 3 in Ripon (England) and I was so upset because of about 800 people there were only 4 people below 25 including myself (I’m 16) we still gave a standing ovation for Rach 3, but it was disappointing that there were so few young people, the average age was like 70 in that Cathedral (only place big enough and Cheap enough in Yorkshire to host up to 1000 people and an orchestra) and just massively disappointing on the audience front 😔. But the music was life changing!
oh maaan, i absolutely agree with you!! it's actually really sad that soooo many young people don't know how to appreciate "real" and intellectual music..
2:50 my man's got that Glenn Gould going on there lol
Hi. I'm 70. From age 12, monthly after school in the evenings, a bus would take 40 students ( first come etc) to see Liverpool Phil or the Halle at Manchester. 20 miles away. Cost 25p in today's money. Virtually zilch then. School got deals on tickets and bus company happy. I was hooked after my first trip. (The Verdi Requiem - Dies Irae - did it).
Saw some famous performances. Elgar cello concerto - Barenboim and J du Pre, all the piano concertos I could. When I went to Uni, I was addicted thereafter. In 1970, saw Horowitz at RFH in London. Then it's your own amateur performances. Once it has you - you have it. All down to those regular school trips. Extra-curricular does it.
lol... now you know how I have felt going to a hard core show where I was the only one over 30. Oh, I'm 82 and love every style of music from Classical to Gothic. However, bottom line has always been my love for piano and the Blues. It is not coincidental that my love for Rachmaninoff has caused me to watch Alexander Malofeev on RUclips many many times. Yes, I am jealous you got to see him in person.. not really, I'm actually thankful you had that privilege!! It's about the only left on my bucket list.
Young people take their cues from their peers. The first priority for many is not to be different. and that does influence what they are into musically and in numerous other ways. As we grow we develop minds of our own and are less likely to feel obliged to "follow the crowd". I don´t think we need to worry about the future of classical music. It´s like wine, or whisky. We gradually develop a taste for it as we come across it and grasp it´s significance and the effect that it can have upon us.
You are so lucky to have got to hear Alex live. I am green with envy!
Hey @Piergiorgio Wilson I was at Maloveefs concert in Munich and there were only a lot of Dumbledores sitting in the audience. After Alexander finished playing his amazing concert, everyone was clapping for a while, so that Alexander played an extra piece. After that, the audience still hadn't calmed down and he played another extra piece. Suddenly people are standing up and leaving while the performance ist still going. I was so dissapointed, that after he finished playing I was the only one who stood up to clap. I'm sure he noticed me and then he sat down and played ANOTHER extra piece and I was just so happy. He basically gave a concert after his concert.
I have been to a lot of concerts in my life and have never seen anyone younger than me in the audience. It is just saddening and scary to realize what is slowly happening with one of the most important part of human culture.
4:28 a couple of days ago tiffany poon posted a video of some of her audience in croatia and it really made me still believe that theyre saving classical music
I’m twenty and go to concerts with my friends of the same age as much as we can. Also, unlike a lot of fans of this music our age, I am a lover of the music first and a musician second. I only play for supplement to my listening enjoyment. Saw that Malofeev performed the other day at the Gilmore which isn’t too far from where I go to school but we unfortunately couldn’t make that one. Still try to go to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra once or twice a month. It’s great when all of us young people go to the concert hall and make it our own
It's not dying. I thought the same thing when I was younger. It's just the fact that usually as most people grow older, their tastes mature and they have enough life experience to appreciate Classical music. They don't need a scene where they go to a concert to party- now they need a scene where everyone is expected to be quiet and truly listen to the music. Some more intelligent younger people are able to appreciate this. As the older concert goers pass away, the next generation is aging into the finer tastes in life - and thus, it won't die.
I think a lot of young people are enjoying classical music, but in concerts you mainly see old people because they have more free time
one day when we get old we'll be seniors too. I feel like this is going to happen with other genres of music too as the form has expanded
I’m 26 living in Seoul Korea, and I was a rock/pop/folk fan in my early 20s but recently I got interested in Classical music. I had four experience of going to concert this month(I am broke now), but exept to one, there were so many younger generation of my age and below. There were young parents who seems like they are in their 30s, 40s, holding their young child’s hands too. And…There were young music students waiting for their classical musician star to sign to their music score. Looking them, even though I’m a newbie to this genre, I feel tempted to learn classical instrument(piano) which I gave up long time ago. Someday when I become financially stable, I might find a piano tutor for me. I don’t know maybe this ‘younger population phenomenon’ is because I went to famous people’s concert or not….
Sorry for my bad English. I’m in the process of learning.
I think Korea is doing an amazing job of supporting the Classical music world. By the way, your English is great! You're never too late to start learning an instrument, especially the piano! :) I wish you the best of luck and thank you for watching the video!
Classical music and opera is expensive. Very few young people have that kind of money. Later in life, going to a concert requires a babysitter (more $). I think that it is totally normal to see concert halls of older people. In 50 years from now, it will not have changed. The halls will be full of older people who have the time and money to enjoy this wonderful art form. No doubt Covid has hit all performance art forms hard... but the people will come back eventually. The music is timeless. It speaks to people, now and forever.
I greatly appreciate your impassioned plea for the sake of classical music! I think it is very much dying in the U.S., at least in the popular consciousness. The young people of your age that listen to it are mostly practitioners, and clearly you need more than that to keep the art alive. Overseas, however, I think conditions are better. I think there could be a revival of interest in the music in this country but it would take an exceptional occurrence, such as the emergence of a superstar with such talent and charisma that he or she could not be ignored by the mass media, that in turn would generate a whole new swath of fans. We are a celebrity culture today, after all. I am very concerned about the situation as well but can't help you generationally as I have quite a few years on you; I am not quite 100 but more than halfway there!
I have lost all faith in contemporary classical performance. But: having no idea what your video was about -- it was highly amusing! 👍 (I'm 58.)
What are the pieces in the background? I know it but just forgot the name
Damn, I'm sad now :(
I've had the privilege of listening to martha argerich play live and I'm not exaggerating when I say I could count on one hand the amount of people under the age of 25 in the audience.
To think that when those older people pass only those handful of people will be going to concerts is heartbreaking :(
I can't even imagine a future with no classical concerts.
Tbh, as someone who was forced to go to lots of classical concerts as a child (which even though I hated back then, I am now extremely grateful for), I noticed that concert halls seem to have younger people in them. That may be because I’m 19 now and as a child everyone probably seemed old, but I do think that in general the online easy accessibility of classical music, is allowing more people to get into it and experience it’s beauty.
Classical music needs to be defined before it can be pronounced dead. Historically, the best descriptive label I can give it is western art music, but the closer you get to the modern day the less applicable that definition becomes. The fact that it cannot be uniformly defined as exactly as it was in it's golden age or whatever rose tinted glasses you want to look throw is proof in itself that classical music is not dead.
It's relative lack of popularity in the modern age is still an interesting phenomenon that I don't think anyone entirely understands. Academia has certainly played a role, both in the harmful practice of teaching classical music as "correct" music which can be quite alienating, and the infamous 20th century obsessions with frivolous high minded academic pursuits which produced compositions that are not exactly the most accessible or easily digestible, a reputation which looms over modern composition.
That academic shift away from popular interest also happens to coincide with the revolutions in recording and mass communication. Jazz and other styles would benefit immensely from mass distrustubtion. It is simply undeniable that classical, for lack of a better way to but it, got left behind. The evidence of missing out on the zeitgeist of what would become the modern information age is still readily apparent: CD sales are still incredibly important...
There is certainly nothing inherent about classical music which pushes it out of the zeitgeist. It's phenomenal growth in China since the end of the cultural revolution is proof of that. Classical music is alive, and already I believe we're beginning to see general attitudes shift thanks to the internet.
As the classical music tradition is older than other many popular styles of music today, it has a rather unique blessing and curse of countless hours of scholarship having gone towards selecting works of the highest merit to put on a pedestal. While not a perfect process by any means I believe the resulting "canon" is generally reflective of true genius. But the temptation to bask too much in those works and deny the potential merit of others must be avoided. It is important to remember that the canon is ultimately the result of centuies worth of collective memory, and to give new works of art a chance to blossom along the timeless masterpieces of those departed.
I"m with you. I was a self-taught classical musician since I was a kid. I spent hours working on Bach P&Fs on the organ while all the kids were out playing or watching TV. Now I'm retired (CPA/ CFO) and a serious pianist & cellist. One of the greatest experiences of my life was teaching elementary & secondary orchestra. It all boils down to education. Our education system is imploding along with our government, economy, culture, science and churches. The little classical music outreach programs we had in our area for youngsters was demolished by large universities and school systems & replaced with folksy & ethnic culture. However, more and more students are attending classical Christian schools. Parents are pulling their kids out of traditional schools. That's the future of our country. Classical music will make a comeback! Piergiorgio, thank you for fighting for our cause!
I think you're absolutely spot on. I go to concerts regularly in the UK and it does feel like my partner and I are the sole members of the audience in our twenties, other than young people who are serious enough to the extent that they will bring the score on an iPad and follow it along, which I'm not there to do.
My best example is when I went to a concert prior to the pandemic - we heard the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture conducted by Vasily Petrenko, then Nikolai Lugansky came out to play Rach 3 with him in the first half, followed by Sibelius 5 in the second half. Lugansky played it about as well as he could, and like you with Malofeev I had a front-row seat, right in front of the pianist. Lugansky took two curtain calls, and then the applause inexplicably died out - if he came out once more, I'm certain he would have played an encore and I was devastated. Even the orchestra looked surprised when the applause stopped and they almost looked like they were feeling awkward about leaving, almost a "that's not what was supposed to happen" reaction.
Interestingly, Petrenko and the orchestra ended up giving two encores after the Sibelius. I can't help but feel he knew, like me, we should have had one from Lugansky.
Perhaps some performers will maintain a level of general fame that means that they will always have an audience once the elderly classical music followers aren't able to attend, but unfortunately it will be composed of people who have no idea how good the performer that they are listening to actually is, since they are there as a status symbol of sorts.
is it me or the population of geriatrics are scaring younger people away ?
@@vfs3774 not for me personally but I can understand why some might feel like that. For me the issue is that people don't have enough attention to spare. I have this conversation with my parents regularly - popular songs nowadays are about 3-4 minutes long and are catchy, but not interesting musically to those who have studied music. They generally have a dependence on very few chords and several repetitions of the same sections such as the first chorus etc.. it seems getting young people in a hall for one piece of music lasting half an hour or more that barely ever repeats and has no lyrics is a tough ask nowadays.
Yep. I just ran a really successful 10 day classical music festival on the coast and I only ran into a handful (like 5) of people other than myself younger than their 50s. It can be discouraging.
Classical music has the stigma of being "boring" just like other genres have other stigmas. But classical music's stigma is so mainstream that its just sad
Thank you for this message.
I understand your mission better now.
Your thoughts about how to design live events to attract more young people?
Quite a fair point you are making. Beyond trying to make younger people part of classical music, I think it should really be alive again, in the sense that there should be more composers, perhaps more easy to grasp composers, and generally a greater wave of active musicians and composers outside of the conservative academia (which admittedly fears a revival of classical music). There should be places where people can improvise a fugue for an audience, or show off their skills against another musician, as it used to be in the nineteenth century. Perhaps it would be neat to start with creating a community, of all, or many of the classical RUclips channels, and perhaps more. Perhaps a discord server or a subreddit, something in that sense. Good day to you and to all