[Music]
to those old people listen today right
parents grandparents retired people how
old is it a thousand years old
500 100 years old what does it sound
like this sound like pertain to the
apprentice or does it sound like music
from Apocalypse Now I know the
helicopters didn’t imagine their species
or does it sound like the piece you want
to walk down the aisle – maybe the PCG
walk down down it – well it sounds like
all of those things and it comes from
500 years ago it comes from 100 years
ago and that comes from yesterday
I don’t lose just for all people and
it’s ready buddy and so in all of those
examples you just imagined there’s
actually a huge array of history and
culture being represented and in fact
classical music the difference from one
piece to another piece is greater than
any generic similarities that were
labeled classical implies now that’s not
to say that classical means something it
does the Classical period is simply one
period in a stream appearance that we
understand this music through and it’s
it’s there in the middle of around 1750
to the early eighteen hundreds now these
periods then are absolute there was no
committee meeting in 1749 composers got
together one when you know what next
year we can do classical music I think
we’re done with rock music we’re gonna
move on
of course that’s obviously not how it
works these periods are generalizations
we can look back now at decades and said
okay in those decades composers were
roughly doing similar things they were
working in similar conditions similar
stylistic concerns and in the next few
decades that was roughly similar as well
so yes classical music is old but it’s a
multi-faceted changing art form just as
pop music changes from year to year
let’s learn their fate
Farra classical music is always changing
and always changes which gets us to
today well it gets up to the 20th
century which finished 18 years ago
nevertheless we have this last period in
1900 plus we have other labels for it
contemporary music new music
contemporary classical music all of
which is what I’m going to be talking
about today but there’s a bit of a
problem because we have assumptions
about classical music as a whole we’ve
just demonstrated that but trying to
think of what it sounds like and
understand where it comes from
we have assumptions about that we think
it’s just one singular thing and then
when it comes to contemporary classical
music we probably don’t even think such
a thing exists or if we do which is kind
of strange noise or something slightly
unpleasant or something a bit mad and
crazy we might see someone that today is
actually I have won half the argument
but we are ready to buy heard how much
you enjoyed the last back so tactical
music has these have these problems when
it comes to how we how you and I
perceive it and that comes down to I’m
afraid to say left of Education that we
simply aren’t taught about classical
music we don’t know very much about it
and I can spend the whole 50 minutes
talking about the problems with the
education system and the devaluing of
classical music but I wouldn’t I’m going
to talk about what the impacts of that
lack of understanding is and then look
at how we can get around it specifically
in terms of new classical music so I’m
involved as the introduction said with
lots of areas of the new classical music
industry alike and as part of that from
them
faced with comments which reflect a fear
of classical music especially a new
classical music and I think it’s the
crux of this problem people have a
fundamental fear of the new and a
fundamental fear of new classical music
or whether you know it or not and this
kind of comes from experience I’ve had
where many
we’re about to hear a concert which
we’ve got some music in there or I’m
talking for them asking them do you know
much about it and I also say some
recurring things they say things like
I’m not gonna understand it I won’t
understand my music
obviously you can’t whistle that I’m
going to sing having a shower I’m not
gonna go away humming that and they say
oh my four-year-old could do that and I
think all of these are problematic
phrases of romantic fears which I’d like
to address so when people say I won’t
understand it what is it they actually
mean well I think what it is is that
people assume that those of us who are
interested in classical music completely
broadly we get our enjoyment through
them through our heads room knows what
the composer doing from moment to moment
understanding how a piece was
constructed and then enjoying it because
of that so it’s all up in a head it’s
not here where it’s actually we can
enjoy music just by what we feel I’m a
ghost a classical music a new testicle
music as much as anything else
so one people say I won’t understand it
what they mean is I think I need to have
certain types of knowledge about that
music to get anything out of it and I
don’t think that’s true and the people
who don’t say I won’t understand it are
the people I think of the biggest change
of that statement I’m thinking of young
kids on finals you play them some weird
music I don’t understand that they revel
in the unusual sounds even if say
there’s not a melody there at all
which brings us to our next segment you
can’t whistle that
well the three things to say what is
easy there’s loads of music being
written today classical music which is
Teufel bombastic see my logic if you
like so that’s one easy number two if
it’s not melodic there is most likely
some kind of sense of line of shape that
pulls you through as a listeners that we
can understand it and can appreciate it
in a similar it’s not the same way if
music that is melodic okay number three
if there’s not a melody there it’s not
because the composer’s forgot to put it
there I think I’m yet to turn to a
rehearsal of a piece of mine and after
the musician on the shoulder and say
I’ve done again I’ve left the tune out
there’s nothing here what can we get
from it I have to go and write it now
because composers if they don’t that are
tuning the interest is still alive
tomorrow
so in the 20th century just like in all
the centuries that came before
composers tried to find interest in new
and different areas and so we have in
the 20th century composers looking at
textures that are created from unusual
combinations of many hundreds of
instruments or we get composers who are
interested in just a single sound that
an instrument and create they analyze
that creates a whole piece based on that
which may not have any melody in
whatsoever but still amazing to listen
to it’s so fascinating when people
saying you can’t whistle at ok you
actually might be able to just a
misconception and if you can’t there’s
gonna be something else in it for you
and then my four-year-old would do that
so really to take this one I think
visual artists and other people creating
experiments and contemporary work have
this and people that don’t say this and
the four yards now back to our imagine
three four five year olds but in
listening they wanted to take that
actually they might say wow what
instruments making that noise how do you
do that I would like to be able to do
that which is a really interesting way
of thinking of it so we’ve got these
three fears there there are more I think
I could just say okay none of those are
true I’ve tried to demonstrate that but
that wouldn’t really help so what I’ve
done instead is look at the projects
that engage people with contemporary
classical music I’m engaged with them
myself and I’ve read a lot of the
literature around how we engage with
classical music more broadly especially
those of us who maybe don’t go to
concerts classical concerts at all what
are our experience and looking at these
projects these things are happening all
across intense
feels looking at though is there are
three things that seem to come out as
commonalities between them these
projects are our people to experience
the music and then they educate people
to a certain extent and they engage us
they engage us in these things and they
have to do all three it’s like a fire
triangle you need to check one thing out
and the thing will catalyze we’ve got to
have all three of these things what do
they mean that well experience simply
hearing these music so this music has to
be programmed it’s got to be there for
us to hear it to listen to it
to see it in the flesh to smell it to
feel it to really get some kind of
experience with it and we can only do
that if we are actually engaged with it
and to understand what engagement means
let’s think about what disengages people
it’s in classical music as a whole let
alone new possible music what we think
of a concert hall we have preconceptions
and here many of those are true we think
we’ve got to know when to tap we’ve got
to know how to speak about the piece how
people next to us talking or what she
played the Sibelius much better in the
rollout you know we have these
expectations a lot of them a true or we
have to wear certain things if we go and
see an opera and ridiculously many of
these are true and so we need to flip
those on the head or find that way of
changing them to get people engaged and
then we need to educate people
now when I say okay I don’t mean a
composer like me stand on the stage and
talk to me for an hour about the piece
in bar one I took this book fascinating
and bar – I took the chord and did a
little different thing with it and then
an hour later and a bar 455 you can call
back to buy a 38 you’ll remember you
know I’ve been in lots of those talks
they kind of interesting for composers
sometimes but mostly they’re not very
educational tool actually people who
aren’t musicians often want to know what
it’s like playing me what the experience
of learning this may sound we take to
learning what I like playing in an
orchestra these things are just as
important as the history in fact and
figures which yes
as well and so we have all three of
these things we need to do all three and
let me give you now two hypothetical
examples which are based on projects
that are already happening they’re not
specific but they’re kind
generalizations and then I’m two ends of
the spectrum so on one end we take the
music we program some classical music
and we put it in a pub upsetting with a
pub what’s the point in doing that well
we deal with this engagement problem
because we take away the vending all the
expectations all the ritual and people
it’s much easy to engage it’s much
easier for me to engage with it I’m I’m
dealing with classical music all the
time and then the byproduct of that if
the education happens we needed it
because the musicians and audience are
in the same space they feel comfortable
but actually the musicians feel a little
bit uncomfortable because they’re right
next to you so they’re probably gonna
nervously talk about the piece introduce
something tell you what it’s like and
that education happens quite organically
on the other end of the spectrum will
keep the concert hall a concert hall is
important music sound amazing in a
proper space but we have to think about
engagement we can’t just have it as
accounting if we need to look at those
problems and decide what we keep and
what can we change and then when it
comes to the education we need to think
about what the audience wants and what
people who are coming what do they want
what do they want to hear about it we’re
going to have a composer stand on the
stage and talk it better be pretty
interesting otherwise there’s no point
at all so we’ve got to think about
interesting ways of doing that I think
genetic not very young exciting examples
and there’s lots of stuff in-between and
lots of stuff around the edge and
there’s lots of stuff already happening
do these things and if they’re
successful what they do is address these
fears they stop people saying I’m not
gonna understand it can you educate them
a bit um they might go away we’re
singing for something tuned for they
might think well actually yeah I texted
with the main
or just that sound was great and then I
think people are less likely to have
this more my four-year-old could do
attitude if they see the craft that came
into it so if I have one suggestion for
you today would be to go out me find
projects like this that can be difficult
try and do that but actually better
still do this go home
go online find someone with a decent CD
collection or go to your local library
and get your hands on some new classical
music listen to it don’t just hear it
put it on
listen to it engage with it see what it
makes you feel see what it makes me
think and ask yourself do I need to be scared of this
to those old people listen today right
parents grandparents retired people how
old is it a thousand years old
500 100 years old what does it sound
like this sound like pertain to the
apprentice or does it sound like music
from Apocalypse Now I know the
helicopters didn’t imagine their species
or does it sound like the piece you want
to walk down the aisle – maybe the PCG
walk down down it – well it sounds like
all of those things and it comes from
500 years ago it comes from 100 years
ago and that comes from yesterday
I don’t lose just for all people and
it’s ready buddy and so in all of those
examples you just imagined there’s
actually a huge array of history and
culture being represented and in fact
classical music the difference from one
piece to another piece is greater than
any generic similarities that were
labeled classical implies now that’s not
to say that classical means something it
does the Classical period is simply one
period in a stream appearance that we
understand this music through and it’s
it’s there in the middle of around 1750
to the early eighteen hundreds now these
periods then are absolute there was no
committee meeting in 1749 composers got
together one when you know what next
year we can do classical music I think
we’re done with rock music we’re gonna
move on
of course that’s obviously not how it
works these periods are generalizations
we can look back now at decades and said
okay in those decades composers were
roughly doing similar things they were
working in similar conditions similar
stylistic concerns and in the next few
decades that was roughly similar as well
so yes classical music is old but it’s a
multi-faceted changing art form just as
pop music changes from year to year
let’s learn their fate
Farra classical music is always changing
and always changes which gets us to
today well it gets up to the 20th
century which finished 18 years ago
nevertheless we have this last period in
1900 plus we have other labels for it
contemporary music new music
contemporary classical music all of
which is what I’m going to be talking
about today but there’s a bit of a
problem because we have assumptions
about classical music as a whole we’ve
just demonstrated that but trying to
think of what it sounds like and
understand where it comes from
we have assumptions about that we think
it’s just one singular thing and then
when it comes to contemporary classical
music we probably don’t even think such
a thing exists or if we do which is kind
of strange noise or something slightly
unpleasant or something a bit mad and
crazy we might see someone that today is
actually I have won half the argument
but we are ready to buy heard how much
you enjoyed the last back so tactical
music has these have these problems when
it comes to how we how you and I
perceive it and that comes down to I’m
afraid to say left of Education that we
simply aren’t taught about classical
music we don’t know very much about it
and I can spend the whole 50 minutes
talking about the problems with the
education system and the devaluing of
classical music but I wouldn’t I’m going
to talk about what the impacts of that
lack of understanding is and then look
at how we can get around it specifically
in terms of new classical music so I’m
involved as the introduction said with
lots of areas of the new classical music
industry alike and as part of that from
them
faced with comments which reflect a fear
of classical music especially a new
classical music and I think it’s the
crux of this problem people have a
fundamental fear of the new and a
fundamental fear of new classical music
or whether you know it or not and this
kind of comes from experience I’ve had
where many
we’re about to hear a concert which
we’ve got some music in there or I’m
talking for them asking them do you know
much about it and I also say some
recurring things they say things like
I’m not gonna understand it I won’t
understand my music
obviously you can’t whistle that I’m
going to sing having a shower I’m not
gonna go away humming that and they say
oh my four-year-old could do that and I
think all of these are problematic
phrases of romantic fears which I’d like
to address so when people say I won’t
understand it what is it they actually
mean well I think what it is is that
people assume that those of us who are
interested in classical music completely
broadly we get our enjoyment through
them through our heads room knows what
the composer doing from moment to moment
understanding how a piece was
constructed and then enjoying it because
of that so it’s all up in a head it’s
not here where it’s actually we can
enjoy music just by what we feel I’m a
ghost a classical music a new testicle
music as much as anything else
so one people say I won’t understand it
what they mean is I think I need to have
certain types of knowledge about that
music to get anything out of it and I
don’t think that’s true and the people
who don’t say I won’t understand it are
the people I think of the biggest change
of that statement I’m thinking of young
kids on finals you play them some weird
music I don’t understand that they revel
in the unusual sounds even if say
there’s not a melody there at all
which brings us to our next segment you
can’t whistle that
well the three things to say what is
easy there’s loads of music being
written today classical music which is
Teufel bombastic see my logic if you
like so that’s one easy number two if
it’s not melodic there is most likely
some kind of sense of line of shape that
pulls you through as a listeners that we
can understand it and can appreciate it
in a similar it’s not the same way if
music that is melodic okay number three
if there’s not a melody there it’s not
because the composer’s forgot to put it
there I think I’m yet to turn to a
rehearsal of a piece of mine and after
the musician on the shoulder and say
I’ve done again I’ve left the tune out
there’s nothing here what can we get
from it I have to go and write it now
because composers if they don’t that are
tuning the interest is still alive
tomorrow
so in the 20th century just like in all
the centuries that came before
composers tried to find interest in new
and different areas and so we have in
the 20th century composers looking at
textures that are created from unusual
combinations of many hundreds of
instruments or we get composers who are
interested in just a single sound that
an instrument and create they analyze
that creates a whole piece based on that
which may not have any melody in
whatsoever but still amazing to listen
to it’s so fascinating when people
saying you can’t whistle at ok you
actually might be able to just a
misconception and if you can’t there’s
gonna be something else in it for you
and then my four-year-old would do that
so really to take this one I think
visual artists and other people creating
experiments and contemporary work have
this and people that don’t say this and
the four yards now back to our imagine
three four five year olds but in
listening they wanted to take that
actually they might say wow what
instruments making that noise how do you
do that I would like to be able to do
that which is a really interesting way
of thinking of it so we’ve got these
three fears there there are more I think
I could just say okay none of those are
true I’ve tried to demonstrate that but
that wouldn’t really help so what I’ve
done instead is look at the projects
that engage people with contemporary
classical music I’m engaged with them
myself and I’ve read a lot of the
literature around how we engage with
classical music more broadly especially
those of us who maybe don’t go to
concerts classical concerts at all what
are our experience and looking at these
projects these things are happening all
across intense
feels looking at though is there are
three things that seem to come out as
commonalities between them these
projects are our people to experience
the music and then they educate people
to a certain extent and they engage us
they engage us in these things and they
have to do all three it’s like a fire
triangle you need to check one thing out
and the thing will catalyze we’ve got to
have all three of these things what do
they mean that well experience simply
hearing these music so this music has to
be programmed it’s got to be there for
us to hear it to listen to it
to see it in the flesh to smell it to
feel it to really get some kind of
experience with it and we can only do
that if we are actually engaged with it
and to understand what engagement means
let’s think about what disengages people
it’s in classical music as a whole let
alone new possible music what we think
of a concert hall we have preconceptions
and here many of those are true we think
we’ve got to know when to tap we’ve got
to know how to speak about the piece how
people next to us talking or what she
played the Sibelius much better in the
rollout you know we have these
expectations a lot of them a true or we
have to wear certain things if we go and
see an opera and ridiculously many of
these are true and so we need to flip
those on the head or find that way of
changing them to get people engaged and
then we need to educate people
now when I say okay I don’t mean a
composer like me stand on the stage and
talk to me for an hour about the piece
in bar one I took this book fascinating
and bar – I took the chord and did a
little different thing with it and then
an hour later and a bar 455 you can call
back to buy a 38 you’ll remember you
know I’ve been in lots of those talks
they kind of interesting for composers
sometimes but mostly they’re not very
educational tool actually people who
aren’t musicians often want to know what
it’s like playing me what the experience
of learning this may sound we take to
learning what I like playing in an
orchestra these things are just as
important as the history in fact and
figures which yes
as well and so we have all three of
these things we need to do all three and
let me give you now two hypothetical
examples which are based on projects
that are already happening they’re not
specific but they’re kind
generalizations and then I’m two ends of
the spectrum so on one end we take the
music we program some classical music
and we put it in a pub upsetting with a
pub what’s the point in doing that well
we deal with this engagement problem
because we take away the vending all the
expectations all the ritual and people
it’s much easy to engage it’s much
easier for me to engage with it I’m I’m
dealing with classical music all the
time and then the byproduct of that if
the education happens we needed it
because the musicians and audience are
in the same space they feel comfortable
but actually the musicians feel a little
bit uncomfortable because they’re right
next to you so they’re probably gonna
nervously talk about the piece introduce
something tell you what it’s like and
that education happens quite organically
on the other end of the spectrum will
keep the concert hall a concert hall is
important music sound amazing in a
proper space but we have to think about
engagement we can’t just have it as
accounting if we need to look at those
problems and decide what we keep and
what can we change and then when it
comes to the education we need to think
about what the audience wants and what
people who are coming what do they want
what do they want to hear about it we’re
going to have a composer stand on the
stage and talk it better be pretty
interesting otherwise there’s no point
at all so we’ve got to think about
interesting ways of doing that I think
genetic not very young exciting examples
and there’s lots of stuff in-between and
lots of stuff around the edge and
there’s lots of stuff already happening
do these things and if they’re
successful what they do is address these
fears they stop people saying I’m not
gonna understand it can you educate them
a bit um they might go away we’re
singing for something tuned for they
might think well actually yeah I texted
with the main
or just that sound was great and then I
think people are less likely to have
this more my four-year-old could do
attitude if they see the craft that came
into it so if I have one suggestion for
you today would be to go out me find
projects like this that can be difficult
try and do that but actually better
still do this go home
go online find someone with a decent CD
collection or go to your local library
and get your hands on some new classical
music listen to it don’t just hear it
put it on
listen to it engage with it see what it
makes you feel see what it makes me
think and ask yourself do I need to be scared of this
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