Alex,
**** Does anybody compose ’classical’ music today,for exmp. in 18th centuty idiom?
Or in any other, from the past?
Is there a significant difference in orchestral or small ensemble compositions betwwen music from the past and today?
I am asking, because of discussions that are happening here regarding new and old jazz.
The sam type could be led about any popular music or form from last century.
Why are people so sensitive about jazz? ****
Great comment and great question.
Everything that has been discussed here about Jazz in regard to the PROCESS of “influences and “evolution” of the music and the various defined “periods” or “eras” of the music’s popularity can be said about “Classical” (in the broader sense) music. The parallels are many.
You mention the 18th century. In the 18th century there were two major and overlapping eras represented, the tail end of the Baroque era and the first half of the Classical (the more specific use of the word) era; part of evolution of the genre and same could be said of, say. the ‘30/40’s in Jazz: Swing to Bebop. Throughout the decades and centuries there have been composers who compose in what could be called a “neo-(fill in the blank) style. Sometimes there can be a preponderance of a neo style such as what happened in the time between the two world wars when there was what became known as the Neo-Classical era. This was a move toward the order and melodicism of the Classical era and away from the disorder and atonality of the then current Modernist Era, which itself was a reflection of what was going on in the world in general. A familiar progression; as in Jazz. Keep in mind that, while this is actual analysis and not an opinion, this is all from a musicological standpoint. Listeners’ perceptions, depending on the amount of exposure to any one style and/or personal preferences may not be in sync with this. Example: some might be surprised to learn that, for instance, Igor Stravinsky was a neo- Classical composer.
Yes, today there are composers who compose in the neo-Classical or neo-Baroque (and others) styles. While the music may not sound just like Mozart or Bach it most definitely uses compositional elements used in the music from the Baroque and Classical Eras and follows many of their compositional formulas; similar or even the same compositional “form” and similar use of melody. Many of Hollywood’s music scores are in a neo-Classical style; sometimes along with other more modern elements as well.
You ask if there is a “significant difference” between chamber or orchestral music of the past and today’s. The “eras” represented, including the current, will obviously have significant differences in style which will be expressed compositionally. As the various eras (styles) moved chronologically to the present, broadly speaking there has been a movement toward more atonality and a more “adventurous” (more complex) rhythmic signature; and, in some cases a deliberate attempt to do away with a clearly defined rhythmic signature altogether. Composers always build on what came before and “push the envelope”. Just as in Jazz. As far as instrumentation goes, there will always be certain classic (not Classical) instrumental combinations, like the string quartet, but one of the trends is to explore new and different instrumentations by way of the inclusion of the more “exotic” instruments including the electronic.
Why are people so sensitive about Jazz? I would say that they are no more sensitive than those “Classical” music listeners who think that nothing good was composed since the mid-1800’s or so. Again, a familiar theme.