Is classical music boring?

BY SAMUEL COTTELL

 

I have a confession to make.

Sometimes I get bored at classical music concerts.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not the live performance of the music. The musicians are mostly talented, exceptional players who love what they are doing – and you can certainly tell. Then there’s the music itself; who could argue with a Mahler symphony or Also Sprach Zarathustra by Strauss (not Johann)?

I think it’s about the way the music is presented to us, the audience. The formula for a boring classical concert usually comes down to its vibe, atmosphere and programming. I feel as though the dish being served cannot be too daring or risky. But when it is, it allows the players to unleash their talent upon the music.

This is a serious confession. Yes, classical music can be boring and I feel guilty for thinking so.

Midway through one concert I recently attended, I was thinking: ‘When is this thing going to end?’. The conductor looked bored. The musicians looked bored. I could feel the boredom resonate through the venue. The problem was that there was simply no engagement with the audience.

Generally, when we go to a classical music concert, it is held in an auditorium or a concert hall – atmospheres in which traditions have formed, and a long history has been written. There are formal procedures, some official and some implied. You can’t clap between movements. You can’t move, twitch or tap along to the music (even if you feel the urge to do so). I feel as though I have to be as still as a statue when attending these concerts. Sometimes, the atmosphere is so tense that you can feel the person sitting behind you, breathing on your neck (with me, this is obviously in anger as I have a large head and no hat ever fits me – so logically, if you are sitting behind me, you don’t have much chance of seeing past said head).

Recently, I’ve noticed venues sending patrons’ emails or posted pamphlets on how to get more out of the concert, how to enjoy it more. The language of these appears very stylistic of the 1950s and has a certain music-appreciation-for-the-middle-class aesthetic. I’m not sure how helpful they are with making a concert less boring or more engaging.

For me, it also boils down to the programming and the performance space. Lately, I have been enjoying new music concerts a lot more than purely ‘classical’ ones. A trend seems to have emerged, in which new music is performed in intimate-sized venues with artfully arranged lighting and an intriguing aesthetic. The musicians talk to the audience as well – sometimes there’s even a joke (God forbid the musicians crack a joke with the audience in a formal concert hall).

I have a feeling the reason behind this might be that new music is a shared experience. With most new works today, we are engaging with them and talking about them before they happen, as they happen, and after they happen. Within the canon of classical music, it can be safely assumed that most people will already have heard what’s on offer. So the same program notes tend to be regurgitated and there isn’t much talk required of these pieces, because it might be assumed we all know about them.

It would certainly be exciting to talk about a work we’ve heard 100 times before as though it were a world premiere. Perhaps the conductor could talk about why she loves it? Or the contrabassoonist could talk about why he hates it? This would create a new level of engagement and, just maybe, work toward bringing classical music concerts into the 21^st Century, once and for all.

Alas, my guilt remains. Maybe it’s just me.

 

 

Image: Ralph Arvesen via Flickr, CC2.0.