Thread by @Silpayamanant

Thread: What is #ClassicalMusic?

Something that came up in my thread, "Classical Music, the Perpetual Foreigner Trope, and Colonialism," and that has come up in numerous other discussions--especially those around the "Classical Music Crisis".

https://twitter.com/Silpayamanant/status/1078553943284813824

1/ As anything else, definitions matter. We shape the direction of discourse by focusing selectively on some denotations/connatations. Discussions about #ClassicalMusic are pretty exclusive; this creates specific narratives that are useful to some viewpoints. Some caveats follow.

2/
Caveat 1 - I'm going to focus on Performers & Performing Organizations (hereafter POs) here.* This includes Legacy Institutions (e.g. big budget Symphonies); amateur groups; & student orgs.

*see my Sampling Bias in discussions about Classical Music: silpayamanant.wordpress.com/2014/02/15/sam…

3/
Caveat 2 - I'm going to inform this thread w/ Prototype Theory.* Everyone centers some POs in definitions of #ClassicalMusic while decentering others. Rarely does anyone refer to ALL relevant POs.

*e.g. - see my Prototype Theory & Musical Polyphony: silpayamanant.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/lin…

4/ Caveat 3 - I'm going to entertain questions Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’ asks* in “Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature" & how that applies to #ClassicalMusic & makes inclusion problematic.

*see my Decolonizing the Musical Mind: silpayamanant.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/dec…

5/
Last note: since I'm focusing on POs, I'll be using videos [mostely] to prompt the questions. I'm not necessarily going to give my answers--that's changed evolved over the years.* Let's get started

*cf. one of my posts from 2014 silpayamanant.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/wha…

6/ Is this #ClassicalMusic or is this a Traditional Chinese Orchestra playing Classical Music? If your first impression was the latter, ask yourself why you made that distinction.

Sun Huang and Hsinchu Youth Orchestra - Carmen Fantasy

7/ Same soloist, same orchestra. Is this #ClassicalMusic ?

Sun Huang and Hsinchu Youth Orchestra - Butterfly Lovers' Erhu Concerto

8/ If you didn't think the Butterfly Lovers' Erhu Concerto is #ClassicalMusic would it help to hear it with the originally intended solo insrument, the violin?

9/ If you didn't think the Butterfly Lovers' Concerto with the original solo violin part is #ClassicalMusic will it help to hear it with the originally intended Western-styled Orchestra accompaniment?

10/ Let's go back to the Carmen Fantasy. Is it less a piece of #ClassicalMusic when played with erhu soloist and traditional Chinese Orchestra accompaniment? Is that less a performance of Classical Music than the Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto with original Western Orchestra?

11/ Or is it better to have a "fusion" of Chinese & Western musical elements e.g. Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra to be considered #ClassicalMusic ? Set aside the fact that Traditional Chinese Orchestras are already a fusion of Chinese & European elements.

12/ We could easily find similar marginal examples from many other cultures, countries, and Large Ensemble types. For example, is Beethoven's 5th less a piece of #ClassicalMusic when played by a Mandolin Orchestra?

13/ Or is Vasily Kalinnikov's Symphony No. 2 not #ClassicalMusic enough when played by the American Balalaika Symphony Orchestra?

14/ Another way we shape #ClassicalMusic discourse, especially when discussing the "Classical Music Crisis," is by our incessant focus on big budget "Legacy Institutions." Namely Symphonies, Operas, and Ballets (some of us affectionately refer to them with the acronym SOB).

15/ This usually means excluding, or minimizing inclusion of other POs from #ClassicalMusic discussions, Concert Bands, & Choirs.* There's likely more POs in the latter than there are SOBs.

*see my "Choral Music: the “forgotten” Classical Music"
silpayamanant.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/cho…

16/ Esp. if we consider the number of these POs in schools. Con Bands & Choirs far outnumber String Programs (at least in the US). In many cases, there are composers that write works primarily (or exclusively) for these non-legacy groups & aren't in the #ClassicalMusic Canon.

17/ In other words, we're using the 1% (SOBs) of #ClassicalMusic as "the focus of the health of a field as a whole."* This is no more a way to gauge the vibrancy of a field than using the 1% to gauge the economic health of the US.

* see my silpayamanant.wordpress.com/2016/09/11/cla…

18/ While I still generally agree w/ this from "The NPR Classical Music Companion: An Essential Guide for Enlightened Listening" (setting aside the "Enlightened Listening" part), there's much to be gained by exploring the "margins" of #ClassicalMusic .

https://twitter.com/Silpayamanant/status/1079201243719962624