I do not know a lot of people outside my family that regularly go to orchestra concerts or other “classical” music venues. Most of my friends before college had never even been to an orchestra concert (a concert doesn’t count if you are performing in it), and I always wondered why none of their parents took them right downtown. The Rochester Orchestra & Chorale had concerts about once a month from October to April, and tickets were cheap. I went to every one of those concerts until I left for college. Even a number of my music-majoring peers had not been to a professional orchestra concert until our theory class went with Mozart scores in hand.
Several decades ago, conductors were part of “popular society.” Nowadays, people don’t even know their names. Few people know that Leonard Bernstein did more than write West Side Story
—he directed the New York Philharmonic
, wrote books
, and played piano.The shrinking concert attendance cannot be only from the economy; even when concerts are free, there is never a full house. Even though orchestras typically only get around 35% of their revenue from ticket sales, the large amounts of donations and sponsors are holding back money in the rough economy.
Maybe people think they’ve heard it all before: “what new could I possibly hear this time?” Yes, a horrible attitude to have about music. Live performances are the best places to find the new in the old. What is this orchestra doing to bring out different aspects of the piece? Are they playing it at the same tempo as everyone else? But are people bored? There are plenty of 20th- and 21st-century composers and concerts showcasing their works that people could get a taste of the new. But those concerts aren’t highly attended either. Orchestras are trying new strategies: what can be done to get more people to concerts? There was an article in The Ledger on October 1st that discussed some of the new tactics.
The internet allows people to download their favourite movement(s) of a piece, so why not do what The Imperial Symphony Orchestra will be doing: opening their season with a concert only playing the most recognised movements of orchestral works that include 5 in their title. But will it actually draw more people? How are you supposed to advertise to people who don’t normally read your advertisements or listen to the radio stations that play your ads? They aren’t going to pay attend just because entire symphonies won’t be performed.
Many have come to the conclusion that music is actually dying this time—a slow painful death. Orchestra concertgoers are typically of the senior crowds, and not being replaced by younger generations, as they are unable to attend concerts any longer, fewer and fewer people fill the concert hall. Why not make it a family event? A lot of small orchestras have kids concerts or family based events. Why are parents not introducing their children to all types of culture?
Will classical music survive this downfall?
I count myself a unique prospective as I am both the principle songwriter for a rock band, and an amateur composer of late romantic thought, and I think this is part of a much larger, systemic problem not just epidemic to society as a whole, but also endemic to the music culture. While I'm hardly a classical virtuoso, I find it profoundly frustrating how little modern musicians know of all that came before. Even your run of the mill metal guitar player knows about Bach or Mozart or what have you, but I know plenty of classically trained musicians who only know Wagner as "the guy who wrote ride of the valkyrie" and know nothing of Mahler or Schoenburg. It's not just death, it's stagnation. A few giants have been placed on a pedestal at the expense of all others, and innovation is condemned. That needs repeating; Innovation is condemned, unorthodoxy is viewed as an affront to the almighty wisdom of the aforementioned giants. I had a cellist try to tell me that a symphony with more than 4 movements was WRONG. What a multifaceted problem all of this is!
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