Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Classical Will Always be Elitist

There seems to be a perception that classical music is in trouble. The cost of producing quality, live, performances far out weighs the general public's appetite to afford tickets that would support the burden.

In San Diego we have been fortunate to have patrons of the arts who underwrite the costs. There seems to be a perception that this isn't a viable model. This is a viable model. In fact I would propose this is has been the model that has always worked for classical music.

Let's get one thing straight. Classical music always has been and always will be an elitist activity. Classical music appeals to a limited percentage of the population. There was never a day when classical music appealed to a broad swath of any society.

In the past, elitist meant that only the elite actually heard classical music. It is only recently that recordings and now music services have put the catalog at our fingertips.

There are stories about Richter traveling to remote areas of Russia and playing classical music for the small towns. His performances were the first time anyone in those communities had heard classical music in any form.

In the past, in order to hear classical music, you had to live in a city or town that had an orchestra. Rarely was that orchestra self supporting. It was often established and sustained by the local government or nobility--the nobility being the local government in a lot of ways.

Now, so long as you have internet access and a device, you can listen to any piece of classical music you could ever want to hear for a few dollars or for free.

Classical music is not in danger, the structure of classical music consumption is changing and that's a good thing for almost all of us.

We'll look at a few examples of the patronage of the past and the current situation in the next few posts.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema

There seems to be a perception that classical music is in trouble. The cost of producing quality, live, performances far out weighs the general public's appetite to afford tickets that would support the burden.

In San Diego we have been fortunate to have patrons of the arts who underwrite the costs. There seems to be a perception that this isn't a viable model. This is a viable model. In fact I would propose this is has been the model that has always worked for classical music.

Let's get one thing straight. Classical music always has been and always will be an elitist activity. Classical music appeals to a limited percentage of the population. There was never a day when classical music appealed to a broad swath of any society.

In the past, elitist meant that only the elite actually heard classical music. It is only recently that recordings and now music services have put the catalog at our fingertips.

There are stories about Richter traveling to remote areas of Russia and playing classical music for the small towns. His performances were the first time anyone in those communities had heard classical music in any form.

In the past, in order to hear classical music, you had to live in a city or town that had an orchestra. Rarely was that orchestra self supporting. It was often established and sustained by the local government or nobility--the nobility being the local government in a lot of ways.

Now, so long as you have internet access and a device, you can listen to any piece of classical music you could ever want to hear for a few dollars or for free.

Classical music is not in danger, the structure of classical music consumption is changing and that's a good thing for almost all of us.

We'll look at a few examples of the patronage of the past and the current situation in the next few posts.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.