China showing promise as a new power in the classical music world

Classical music stars such as Yo Yo Ma and Vanessa Mae have shown the public that China has some interest in classical music and have the technical skill and passion to play at the same level as their Western counterparts. Though both of these names are not really Chinese, as they were brought up and received training in Paris and Canada, the link is still there. In fact as peoples enthusiasm for classical music in all its grand forms is dying in the West there is a gradually building interest for this from of music in china.  

England and Europe have always been known as the birth place of Classical forms of music, where people enjoyed taking in an evening concert, proud of the musical talent of their country folk. Times have changed and new forms of music have hit the publics’ eye, hip hop, RnB, Dance, trance and pop are the main staple of young minds today. Classical music still has its fans, but these groups of enthusiasts are getting smaller and older, professional musicians and composers are now beginning to worry for their own future and the future of their beloved music.

Several thousands of miles to the east China is enjoying a kind of classical music revolution, the world has been aware that this huge country is just now waking up from years of creative repression. The days of enjoying the odd Beethoven symphony on a small cassette tape late at night hidden away from the eyes of anyone that might report you are over. If you visit a park in the early evening you’ll find hundreds of people both young and old dancing to the sound of a small stringed quartet playing classic western pieces.

Apparently this excitement for classical music has been slowly building up over the past 15 or more years; there are roughly 10 million violin students and 30 million piano students all hoping to get a position in one of china’s top national orchestras. In the past the communist party sought to wipe classical forms of music out of society, but now it appears to have changed its mind and this age old art form is vital for the cultural advancement of China. Though even with all their talent they have a long way to go to get one of their symphony orchestras to rank with an American or European orchestra.

Is classical music dead?

Music has changed a great deal over the last few centuries, the classical music that was popular before the 20th century is slowly fading into the past. The truth is that people who enjoy early styles of classical music tend to be older and with more refined tastes. Though having said that if you’re familiar with musical arrangements, then you will realize that a lot of modern music still uses some of the same composition techniques that were used by Beethoven, or Tchaikovsky. It sounds far fetched, but like all creative fields, artists learn from the techniques and methods of older generations, and then push them as far as they will go before they change into something new and current. The older classical music of the Baroque, Romantic, Renaissance and classical periods are not being played over the radio or on the televisions as much making it difficult for younger generations to learn to appreciate. These days our youth are being brought up on new forms of music, such as hip hop, R n B, or dance music, which use different formats that don’t really compliment classical music. If a child that had grown up listening to rock and hip hop was suddenly forced to listen to 3 hours of Mozart’s well known concertos, they would be less than happy. Medical psychologists actually believe that our brains search for patterns on music, once it learns the arrangement of one type of music, then listening to it is easy and satisfying. If it is not familiar with a new sound it would take several attempts to feel comfortable, this is why many people don’t like the sound of classical music; they never have the chance to hear any. Though classical music is still made use of in several bands; including a few recent and very popular bands, which could be called contemporary classical music groups.

The Beatles songs, especially from the album Sgt, Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album, contain tracks such as Eleanor Rigby and A day in the life, which clearly have classical influence mixed in with the forms of that time. More current bands that have successfully revived classical music styling’s are ‘Sigur Ros’ a Finnish band who use a stringed quartet to produce a strong orchestral sounds mixed in with soft rock to produce a music style that cannot really be placed in any genre. There is also ‘Godspeed you black emperor’ a band which constantly changes its band members, which at one time included 17 people. This is another band that uses both classical instruments and arrangements to produce a warm and powerful sound. The violin, cello, piano, trumpet and even a bowed guitar are used to create a dramatic feel to their music, which slowly builds up into a crescendo of warm noise.

So classical music isn’t gone there are many die hard fans out there, as well as radio shows, internet sites and television programs dedicated to this wonderful genre of music.