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Boyce Lancaster, WOSU Public Media

Posted on | July 15, 2009 | 996 views |

How well does classical music resonate with today’s listeners?
Classical music listening is like drinking wine — you don’t have to be an expert, you just have to know what you like. As in wine drinking, classical music is a taste that changes and grows over time. Those of us who are Baby Boomers heard quite a bit of classical music in cartoons, at home and in music classes at school. We had fewer radio stations, fewer TV viewing choices, no video games, iPods, computers or cell phones to occupy our time, so the environment was vastly different. However, as musicians continue to try and break down the walls that have, over the years, made classical music seem an elitist entertainment, more people have the chance to be exposed to it. For example, cellist Matt Haimovitz has played with some of the world’s finest orchestras, but is equally comfortable playing everything from Bach to Jimi Hendrix in honkytonks, bars, coffeehouses and bookstores. This resonates with listeners of all ages and creates an interest in and excitement about classical music.

What are the main differences in the music of the great classical composers and modern composers?
The biggest difference is musical language. Each composer builds upon what has come before, so in the earliest days of written music, those composers were literally laying down the foundation for subsequent generations. Each generation looked at what had come before and said, “Hmmm, what if we did this, changed that chord with this note, changed the rhythm in this way?” Columbus Symphony Orchestra Associate Conductor Albert-George Schram once said to me that music reflects the age in which it is written. Much modern music is dissonant, tense, edgy — which reflects much of the last 100 or so years. If you look at Johann Strauss’ music, it reflects the Vienna of his day: Dances, soirees and a lot of socialization.

What composers would make a perfect “top five” starting point for listeners who wanted to immerse themselves in the genre and why?
At the risk of getting in trouble with Bach or Vivaldi fans, I’ll pick Handel from the Baroque era. His choral music is fabulous, his orchestral writing fits so many different occasions and there are GREAT stories about his personality.

Next, Mozart. You’ll hear Haydn’s influence in his music, as well as Bach’s, so you get more for your dollar. His operas are a great beginning point for stepping into the opera world because most will agree he never wrote a bad melody. No matter what of Mozart’s music you listen to, you can’t go wrong.

Now Mendelssohn. He revived the music of J.S. Bach, held Handel in high esteem and wrote music that reflected his education and his travels all over Europe.

Then Schubert. He explored the human voice in a magnificent way. He wrote more than 600 songs, along with his nine symphonies, his famous Trout Quintet, a number of string quartets, piano pieces and much more. But it’s his songs that will melt your heart.

Tchaikovsky. Even those just getting started listening to classical music have heard Tchaikovsky’s music. Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker — all classics. His Capriccio Italien, March Slav and Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture are standards on our radio station. And who hasn’t heard the 1812 Overture?

Those are the big five, for me, but there is an addendum: Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances; Bernstein’s West Side Story, On the Town, Prelude, Fugue and Riffs and anything else he wrote for stage or screen; and anything Rachmaninoff wrote for the piano.

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