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Was classical music ever popular music?

33K views 122 replies 37 participants last post by  Harold in Columbia 
#1 ·
Classical music (i.e. Haydn, Mozart) seemed to be aimed at the aristocracy and people with money. Only the super-rich it seems had court composers in their employ.

Nowardays it seems classical music is still a pirsuit of the the well-off. Why is this?

Might it be that educated composers just can't see eye to eye with the great unwashed?

Do we want the great unwashed to listen to classical music?

What was pop music like in Mozart's day?

Was classical music ever universally popular?

Will classical music ever be popular?

Should classical music be popular?

What are the social ideals that classical music promotes?

I do not have strong views about these subjects because I merely enjoy the listening and study of classical music. Perhaps classical music isn't popular because you have to know a bit about it to enjoy it. Who knows?!
 
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#117 ·
Might it be that educated composers just can't see eye to eye with the great unwashed?
many of them did see eye to eye

Do we want the great unwashed to listen to classical music?
couldn't care less

What was pop music like in Mozart's day?
wasn't he quite pop in the castle, and folk music in the village?

Was classical music ever universally popular?
not to my knowledge.

Will classical music ever be popular?

in some cases it is to a certain degree - in some countries people sing arias as they go about their day...

Should classical music be popular?

hehe

What are the social ideals that classical music promotes?
not sure there are any, generally speaking. some pieces might be trying to say something (Deine Zauber binden wieder, Was die Mode streng geteilt, Alle Menschen werden Brüder, Wo Dein sanfter Flügel weilt)

I do not have strong views about these subjects because I merely enjoy the listening and study of classical music. Perhaps classical music isn't popular because you have to know a bit about it to enjoy it. Who knows?!
not sure about knowing a bit in order to enjoy, but it it surely isn't invasive as pop-music is. if people are ready to listen to music with the same undivided attention like when they are watching a movie, then they have made the first and most important step towards listening to it - the rest is easier.
 
#118 ·
Classical music (i.e. Haydn, Mozart) seemed to be aimed at the aristocracy and people with money. Only the super-rich it seems had court composers in their employ.

I'm going to say no. As you mentioned, classical music has historically been an elitist past-time. The two incubators of European music from the Medieval period onward were the church and the aristocracy. Concert halls didn't become commonplace until the Romantic Era, and even then, going to one was essentially a bourgeois pursuit. In the Baroque and Classical eras, the common man was only hearing classical music in church or in the town square, so I don't think it was ever the mainstream genre.

Nowardays it seems classical music is still a pirsuit of the the well-off. Why is this?

Is it? I'm not sure that your premise is correct. Assuming that it is, I have no idea :/ maybe only wealthy people have time to enjoy 20+ minute musical pieces. Maybe interest in classical music comes from growing up in homes with pricey instruments like pianos, violins, etc. I just don't think that there are many opportunities to get into it for most people, because it has a relatively slight radio presence and besides that, exposure comes in the form of movie soundtracks and commercials. I have a feeling this relegates classical music to a background noise for many people.

Might it be that educated composers just can't see eye to eye with the great unwashed?

Lol. I will say this: classical music is enjoyed more by some as a marker of status and refinement rather than as stimulating, interesting art.

Do we want the great unwashed to listen to classical music?

No of course not; if that happened then who would we be able to look down upon and call "the great unwashed"

What was pop music like in Mozart's day?

Lieder and madrigals, maybe? There's always been a parallel development of simpler, catchier music alongside the serious stuff. Madrigals are more of a Renaissance thing, but surely the 18th century had some equivalent.

Was classical music ever universally popular?

In the sense that it was enjoyed across Europe, yes.

Will classical music ever be popular?

It's sort of hard to answer because the definition could vary. I've often thought that, as a percentage of the population (in the "west"), classical music could well be more popular today than it ever was in the past. Certainly it's more demotic than it has ever been.

Should classical music be popular?

of course!

What are the social ideals that classical music promotes?

hmmm it promotes being cultured, sophisticated, intellectual, and creative.
 
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