A Postmodern Convergence

AT THE EDGE OF A NEW ERA?

It seems that if a true merger between classical and popular styles is to occur in the future, the impetus will come more from the art music world than from the popular music world. We have seen already that postmodern art music has demonstrated great flexibility in the sonic content of its pieces, but that the processes surrounding the music remain solidly grounded in the centuries-old classical music tradition. Because of the exponentially greater market share that popular music commands, each new generation of composers has come to artistic maturity increasingly surrounded and informed by popular music. As works by the Beatles, Miles Davis, and Radiohead become more and more a part of the average classical musician’s lexicon, it seems logical that concert music would be more likely to adapt to popular music rather than the other way around. In addition, the extraordinary stylistic diffusion that has characterized postmodern art makes it less difficult for that genre to take on yet one more meaning. Moreover, though it has historically been difficult for untrained musicians in the popular style to gain academic credibility, popular music has gradually made inroads into the university curriculum, winning sporadic support from musicologists and theorists. Assuming this trend continues, we may soon see something of an academic paradigm shift making it more feasible for composers to engage popular styles with the strength of the musical establishment behind them.

Most of all, however, any lasting fusion of postmodern art music with popular music will require a change in the way that we think about music and classify musicians. I have attempted to demonstrate in this essay that the lines separating the two traditions from one another, while still real and demonstrable, have eroded to the point where they are no longer based on objective criteria. Why should the sound of a drumset be a nearly automatic aural cue, while the sound of a synthesizer is not? Is there something inherently “low” about drums that makes their use in art music inappropriate? Clearly, this is not so, and yet the distinction persists. The time has long since passed when art music could make exclusive claim to musical complexity, diligence of construction, or subtlety of execution. To be blunt, art music can no longer make exclusive claim to art in music.

It is difficult to imagine a rapprochement between two kinds of music when, in order to buy one kind in the record store, one has to enter an entirely separate room which is actually soundproofed from the rest of the building. The way that the music industry markets “new music” only serves to perpetuate the old antithesis. Many composers today have less in common with Mozart than they do with Radiohead, though they sell infinitely fewer CDs than either. According to Robert Fink, “today, serious art music has to be tracked down all over the cultural landscape: the grittier end of the new age; the spookiest and most ethereal corners of ambient; the most uncompromising slabs of hardcore and techno; and, sometimes, the least academic products of the university new music ensemble.” The reality is that, to a large extent, both postmodern composers and adventurous pop musicians are attempting to create music that will stand the test of time without willfully alienating audiences of the present. They are trying to incorporate advanced and unusual compositional techniques into otherwise conventional forms. They are trying to be interesting and accessible at the same time. Their music may not sound exactly alike—yet—but these innovators are kindred spirits in musical philosophy, and perhaps more than any other group represent the apotheosis of the postmodern aesthetic.

It is unrealistic to expect that the notion of “high art” in music will die anytime soon, if ever. However, it is this author’s belief that the marketing categories of “pop/rock” and “classical” will eventually be rearranged and diversified as more and more artists challenge the traditional divide with greater and greater success. If and when that happens, the canon of music in general will need to be reevaluated, and decisions will need to be made. Allmusic.com, as good a cultural barometer as any and the source for much of the information contained within this essay, has already made some decisions of its own. Its definition for the genre “Experimental” states, “Experimental Music is a general label for any music that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions, be it in rock, jazz, modern composition or any other style. When a musician or composer's approach is a hybrid of disparate styles, or incorporates unorthodox, new, distinctly unique ingredients, the music could be classified as experimental.” The website’s use of its own definition currently seems a bit haphazard, but the spirit of it fits wonderfully with the postmodern aesthetic. Indeed, “Experimental” seems as good a label as any for the Middle-Art music of the future.

Writings

Createquity

Brother, Can You Spare $500: A Guide to Individual Fundraising for Composers

File Under: Ambiguous

A Postmodern Convergence (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Relevant Links and Resources

ArtsJournal: Critical Conversation
ArtsJournal: PostClassic
ArtsJournal: Sandow
beepSNORT
The Fredösphere
Hertz-Lion Yields
NetNewMusic
NewFrontEars
NewMusicBox (guitar issue, rock issue 1, rock issue 2)
Sequenza21
The Rest is Noise