Classical Music as Relics for easy listening

Shubertmaniac, you are right in many ways. But one reason modern classical has tanked so badly has been its excessively non-melodic intellectualized nature. Composition gets trapped in styles for periods of time and has to re-emerge in a form people enjoy listening to, not just analyzing. I think this has been correcting itself with composers like Adams, Rautavaara, Tavener, Ades, among others whose works actually do get a fair amount of performance in their respective countries.

Also, don't underestimate the lowly CD. It is a form of music distribution that has never existed before and it greatly improves the lot of struggling composers.

Soothing (schmutzy?) renditions of light classical music is probably good for your DC trafic situation. Imagine what it would be like if everyone, were listening to agitated, atonal, dissonant, non-melodic modern compositions as they swerve from lane to lane!

A question which emerges from your discussion: has the homogenization and stagnancy occurred because radio and public performance are no longer the ways in which music is heard? Is it possible that music via the cd has become the dominant form of music distribution?

To reiterate... buy or just borrow at the library all of John Williams' film soundtracks and you will discover hours upon hours of complex, melodic, and well orchestrated symphonic classical music. It is right there for anyone to listen to. Many in the classical crowd snub John solely because it was composed for movies.

John Williams has composed some straight classical that has been recorded. There is a cello concerto and other cello suites with Yo-Yo Ma that I've seen in the stores. I guess I should put my money where my mouth is and buy it.

Remember.. most of Leonard Berstein's music that is played regularly is concert versions of his show music. His "classical" music is mostly forgotten.

I highly recommend Christopher Rouse Symphony No.2 on Telarc (1994) Houston Symphony/Eschenbach. Also has a flute concerto and a small piece.

The list we have made of other modern composers is made up mostly of people connected with Universities, or groups that pay them whether they produce anything worth listening to or not. This is one reason most of it is bad. If they all had to compose music that would sell commerically or they'd starve to death, we would have more to listen to.

The most recent "dead" composer worth buying is Shostakovich who died in 1975. Now yes, he was in a socialist country, but he was under pressure to compose stuff Stalin liked, or lose his family and go to a work camp Siberia. Now that's motivation.

With any luck as hardware improves, bandwidth increases/becomes cheaper, more internat'l web radio stations will emerge better serving specialist niches, *,+,^ - doubtless, others will know of better sources