Abstract

Pop invades classical space

Imagine Hollywood releasing a film that begins with an orchestra slowly tuning up, then presents Deems Taylor soberly instructing the audience that they are about to see "a new form of entertainment." Today, when devotees of classical music lament the lack of interest in it among the young, they usually cite as the main reasons the collapse of music education in the schools and the increasingly stingy arts funding at all levels of government. Much less discussed is the deafening moo of rock, rap, grunge, heavy metal, r&b, country and the other cash cows of the music entertainment state. For at least three decades now, the corporate music culture has been seducing kids with such a steady beat of pop tapes, CDs, MTV and movie scores that most can no longer hear anything else.