A decline in the arts? This is a misconception that can only occur in America, where crass commercialism has edged true art out of the picture and allowed light weight, and for the most part mediocre, entertainment to hold the spotlight. But a visit to any foreign city, or to any of America’s more worldly cities, will reveal a much different picture.
Visit Barcelona, for example, where there are classical concerts in churches all over the city every week, perhaps even every day. Notice the architecture, the attention to detail in everything right down to the tiles on the sidewalks on the Passaig de Gracia. Or visit London, or Vienna, or Paris. And in the U.S., visit New York City. Or, just pick up a copy of the Arts and Leisure section of the Sunday New York Times. Even a medium sized city like Tampa boasts two professional orchestras, and Lakeland, FL, with a population of under 100,000 has its own community orchestra, and a concert series at the college that brings in world class ensembles, orchestra, and soloists. The arts are indeed thriving.
And there are an increasing number of major composers and performers emerging from the conservatories every year. One need only look at the number of international music competitions, and the number of aspiring artists to see the number and the quality of the classical music scene. Composers? What about John Corigliano, David del Tredici, Osvaldo Golijov, Thomas Ades, and the list goes on.
So what can lead to the observation made by more than one commentator that the arts are declining? As stated above, commercial music has eclipsed classical music. Popular music which is enjoyed by “the unwashed masses” has always existed as something separate from classical music. But the advent of compulsory in the twentieth century, mass industrialization, and their attendant increase in standard of living, coupled with the advances in mass communication and media have given those “unwashed masses” far more clout than ever before in history. This has given them unprecedented access to the music of their choice – popular music – and the economic wherewithal to make that music dominate. The problem has not been a decline in “art music”, but rather an explosion in popular music that marginalizes the classics.
The arts are far from declining. If anything, the very conditions that have allowed commercial music to overshadow the classics have also allowed the classics to thrive in ways they never have before. Would Beethoven have been able to predict that a CD, the radio, and the internet would make his music available to millions of people throughout the world? Would Paganini have imagined that artists of far less renown (and far less ability) than he would reach a larger audience than he ever dreamed of by self publishing their recordings on the internet? If this is decline, I’ll take it.
Tags: Classical Music Scene, Leisure Section, Osvaldo Golijov
