2. Why Isn't Classical Music popular anymore? Pg. 4

3. What is Modern Classical? Pg. 5

Attending the Chicago Symphony Orchestra made me think of many things, one of these things was genius. For a man to write an entire symphony he has to have quite a high IQ. To write a piece that mends so many instruments together in such beautiful harmony and make such beautiful music really is a talent that I would love to have. I now see why the greats such as Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, etc. are considered full fledged geniuses.

But while I was there I began to ponder some things such as why is this not a sell out crowd? Sure it is a Tuesday night but that never stopped anyone from selling out a performance. What has happened to this beautiful art from, it seems to have gone from the top of the music food chain to somewhere in in between.

Many people wonder if Classical music can ever be as huge as it was hundreds of years ago. Can we return to that golden age

So first I must ask, what is modern classical music exactly? Is modern classical just operas, symphonic poems and ballets that are played at big concert halls by big symphonic orchestras using traditional acoustic instruments and which remind of Beethoven and Mozart? Is it an electronic version of the above, where the composers use, instead of a traditional orchestra, electronic synthesizers to compose and perform their music? Is it the kind of music which, while it has nothing to do with classical music, is considered serious in the sense of complex music as opposed to light, popular music? Is it the experimental electronic music blended with acoustic musical sounds and real-life noise which is accessed through the various modern forms of media like films, television movies and commercials, video and computer games etc.? Is it finally whatever kind of music has no lyrics and is not pop or rock either? And what is pop and rock anyway, ok we won't get into that just yet. All these kinds of music constitute the musical landscape of the twentieth century which is related in one way or another to what we call classical music. A close relationship with traditional classical music cannot be found, in my opinion, except in the movements of the first decades of the century like post-romanticism and neo-classicism. What characterizes music of the greater part of the century, especially the time after World War II, is experimentation and a constant search for new ways of writing music, new forms, new styles. It seems however that the closer to tradition a composer stood, the more acceptable and successful his music was. For example, Puccini's works like the operas Madame Butterfly and Tosca were and still are so popular that there is hardly anyone unfamiliar with these works or who does not like them. Equally popular, and for the same reason, are Strauss's symphonic poems. There is also a big audience for composers like Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Bartok who wrote music heavily influenced from past greats and just invested it with some modern elements. Such elements are, for example, the absence of melody and the rhythms in Stravinsky's ballets , especially in the famous Rite of Spring; also the use of folk songs as a basis for their musical compositions by the so called nationalist composers. An example of popularity based on the combination of classical and popular styles is the American composer Gershwin who, in his operas, used elements of blues, jazz and Latin dance-rhythms that were prevalent in the 30s, that is the period in which he lived. Some songs from these operas became so successful that even today they are sung all over the world in countless versions. However, can we consider a song, like Summertime, classical music?

Music produced in the last forty years used new and experimental style, but never really got noticed by the main public. Some composers, like Varese, completely rejected traditional melody and harmony, while some people decided to go the electronic music route. For example, the American composer Cage made music by combing musical sounds with taped sounds of the noises of real life. Both Cage and Varese had a huge influence on modern composers, not only of classical music but in other genres too, and the fact they did that without being known by the general public makes it all the more amazing. But what many people don't realize is that because of men like Cage and Varese, the music they listen to in films and other forms of media were influenced by these two men. So basi

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Approximate Word count = 2397
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)