Throughout the year, Bristol is host to an incredibly wide range of classical music events. They are to be put on by a varied demographic of performers from students through to some of the UK’s leading classical musicians. With weekly lunch-time concerts at the Victoria Rooms and the diverse classical programme at Colston Hall, along with various other events, Bristol has one of the most comprehensive classical music scenes outside of London.
But behind this seemingly flourishing music scene lurks a burning debate over the future of classical music. Many have argued that classical music is at a dead end – some purists have suggested that it died at the beginning of the 20th century. Indeed, one need only look into the struggling classical record industry to find evidence of an apparent decline in interest. In the past twenty years, the production of classical records has fallen from around 700 to a mere 100 new releases per year.
Another problem is that the classical music audience is an ageing one. Having previously worked for some time in the classical department of HMV, it was apparent to me that the majority of people buying classical records were, to be frank, old men – and the few younger customers we did get were either music students or (more commonly) buying a gift for an older relative. A similar observation can be made about the series of lunch-time concerts at the Victoria Rooms – an excellent range of high quality performances given by professionals with no admission fee – which (excluding the music students) are attended almost exclusively by the middle aged upwards.
So if youth interest in classical music is declining, what are the reasons? Well, on a simple level classical music is often widely viewed as boring, tedious, uneventful and void of excitement. To many, the thought of going to a concert where you have to sit for hours in silence, watching musicians, is a far cry from the loud, sweating euphoria of a gig at a festival. As Ajantha Chandrasena, conductor of the Bristol University Chamber Orchestra, pointed out when I asked him his opinion on the matter “Popular music is geared towards entertainment which is instantly enjoyable, whereas art music requires more input from the listener – which is not what our modern culture gears us up for.” And while various attempts to change this stereotype are being made, they continue to fall short of the mark – possibly due to the fact that many are organised by individuals who are out of touch with young people and who are mutually uninterested in more modern and popular music culture.
Many people are not introduced to classical music at all and view it as an alien form of art, taking the attitude that it is not for them. This could be a result of the ineffectual and bland way a lot of classical music events and releases are presented to the public. Classical music is not as widely advertised as other types of music and when it is, the names of performers and conductors will mean little or nothing to anyone unfamiliar with the classical music world. For an extreme example take the death of Michael Jackson which caused mass hysteria across the globe – his extravagant memorial was televised along with scores of documentaries focusing on his incredible contribution to music. Now compare that to the death of arguably the most successful conductor of our time Richard Hickox only six months earlier, of which few were even aware. It’s obvious that there is a huge gap between the degree of exposure the popular music world gets compared to the classical music world.
However, this is not to say that the world of classical music is completely separate from the popular music scene. Many artists have referenced classical composers among their influences and some have dived even deeper into the classical genre; perhaps most notably Jonny Greenwood. Better known for his role as lead guitarist in one of the most famous alt rock bands of our time Radiohead, Greenwood has spoken about the extensive influence he has drawn from 20th century classical music (particularly Messiaen and little known Polish composer Penderecki). He has recently debuted one of his classical compositions at the BBC proms. Perhaps there is hope yet for a revival of interest in classical music. However, it seems more likely that classical and popular music cultures will continue to go their own separate ways.
Richard Gillies
