I recently received an eloquent letter from Frank in Alexandria, a reader that considers himself a “knowledgeable nonprofessional classical music activist” (I like that term). I believe he has some important insight to share: Instead of reaching out to audiences, my perception is that the professional music leaders, with few exceptions, have circled their wagons and become even more inwardly oriented. They have relegated musical audiences, amateurs, and other nonprofessional consumers of music to a role essentially limited to buying tickets – or, if they have big money, to be invited to become part of honorific support groups where they meet leaders and noted musicians.” I believe Frank cuts to the heart of the trouble with his assessment, and I’m especially pleased to see those sentiments coming from a “nonprofessional”. Frank goes on to observe: This topic has been covered on several occasions by fellow AJ blogger,
“In my judgment the factors underlying the maiaise with America’s magnificent classical music system were already identified long ago, one of the eloquent expressions being by Leonard Bernstein in his book of the early 60’s, where he speaks of a “frozen ocean” separating the music establishment and audiences.
“When one compares this one-way communication system to the vibrant, seething world of popular music, with its tens to hundreds of thousands of web sites, passionate argument and opinion sharing, innumerable independent servers, formation of chat rooms new recording, publication and music group ventures, it’s not hard to understand why the younger generation has become rock based.”
At the beginning of the 20th century, twelve tone music, pioneered by Arnold Sch
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