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The Crisis of Classical Music 10

  Tobias

I really can’t remember, but were things as bad in 1991 as they are now? Back then, all around the globe people were celebrating the 200th anniversary of Mozart’s death, huge box sets were flying off the shelf and most about everyone seemed perfectly fine with the thought that you could find a Mozart CD at the bottom of your cereal pack. Fast forward to almost 15 years later and while this time the world pretends it is even more overjoyed at honouring one of its greatest composers ever and despite the fact that now we’re dealing with the man’s actual birthday, those who are partying are doing so in a way that resembles more of a cumpolsory exercise. And everybody else is complaining. Centenaries tend to bring out the best and the worst in men, but this time it’s showdown for sure. It must therefore be regarded most fitting that Nikolas Harnoncourt officialy opened the Mozart year with a speech full of implicit accusations and unpleasant revelations. Intended to open fresh perspectives and crack down on lazy frugality, he has done classical music a disservice.

Of course and as always, quite a lot of what Harnoncourt had to say was well formulated and made a lot of sense: That we will never be able to form an entirely satisfactory image of Mozart by means of compiling historical data. That the exclusive view of Mozart as a composer of “pleasant and pleasing” music can not be upheld. That people ought to talk less and listen more. And, naturally, that these celebrations have a lot to do with money and business and will unfortunately slice up the man’s work in easily digestible portions. All of these pleads and laments come straight from the heart: A lot of things can be said about Harnoncourt, but not that he is a man without passion. Unfortunately, and this is a trait he shares with the legendary Fischer-Dieskau, he is also a man from a different generation, unable to bridge the divide between the past and the present. This becomes clear in his glorification of Mozart as a “being from another planet” (which is nothing short of the idolisation of teenagers for their beloved rock stars). And it becomes more than obvious in a lenghty part of his speech, which deals with education.

Mainly, Harnoncourt has two theses at hand: Firstly, that our present society favours “the practical” over the “phantastic”. And secondly, that people are unable to understand classical music because they are not being trained to do so any more by schools. There is no doubt that the first hypothesis is correct and a threat. Which not only affects the arts, by the way, but languages as well, which are continually and alarmingly loosing importance in curriculums. But the second part of his argumentation is both symptomatical and downright wrong.

Symptomatical, because it once again places too much emphasis on the educational system and schools. One should never forget that the family has always been the nucleus of musical life for ages – and still is. Does anyone seriously believe that if children were to sing more in classes, as Harnoncourt demands, they would storm classical concert halls by the thousands? And does the maestro seriously want to argue that there are not enough educated children, talented musicians and fine teachers around? The problem is that Harnoncourt has lost touch with what is happening around him – with family ties becoming looser in general, playing together is simply not happening any more on the same scale it once did. And the same school of thought, which has postulated classical music as superior to anything else, has caused its own demise by antagonising an open-minded generation, which felt it had to make a choice between the old and the new. A letter in response to Harnoncourt’s speech tells more than a thousand words – Britney Spears and her colleagues from MTV are supposed to be “vocal gymnastics” rather than “singing”. And another reader regrets the fact that record stores are filled with “trash”, apart from a little oasis of “classical music”. All the unsympathetic elite-rhetoric and “serious” vs “entertainment” blabber is being brought up again.

Apart from polarsing the debate, Harnoncourt also misses the point when he claims that anybody can share in the riches of the arts, if only “their antennas are pointed in the right direction at an early age”. It misses the point, because the musical education at European schools is by far not as bad as is widely claimed – if one forgets about the notoriously small amount of time, which is dedicated to it. As my dentist correctly pointed out, while brutally extracting two of my wisdom teeth, little children have a natural sympathy for classical music. They don’t need to be “carefully” guided towards it or to be explained each and every detail, before they can appreciate it. The same holds true for somewhat more mature listeners, who are often moved to tears by, say, Mozart, without knowing all too much about it. “Educating” people, and this should be clear to anybody, only serves the opposite – if “classical music” is the sound one associates with labour, the intellect and grades, then naturally popular music will become associated with escape from all that. Yes, the antennas should be pointed in “the right direction” – only that “right” should imply teaching children to discover the beauty of music regardless of the typical genres and stereotypes and to be able to express themselves freely and without prejudice.

Behind this lies not an ill spirit, but the idea that the arts should not merely be an aesthetic phenomenon, but a revolutionary and evolutionary force. That is is all well, but again an unnecessary plea – if there is a will for change, it will alaways manifest itself in art (quite possbily not in classical music, however). Harnoncourt has called the Mozart-year a year of opportunites , but he has just wasted one. Instead of solidfying the walls of Mozart’s castle, he should have opened the bridge which leads to it. Just as much as there are walls around the complex “classical music”, there are walls around the fortress “popular music”. I wonder, why noone has ever made a plea for all those classical adepts” to finally educate themselves and visit a rock concert?

"The Crisis of Classical Music" by Tobias Fischer