Labels abandoning earlier contemporary music

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Well, the situation is about the same in most places. In a city with a population of about 22 million, I see just about the exact same people at every concert I go to. That is probably close to the total population of classical music listeners here.

This surprises me. I keep hearing about how China is going to save classical music, how Chinese kids all love classical composers and play the piano and violin, etc.

[springrite]

This surprises me. I keep hearing about how China is going to save classical music, how Chinese kids all love classical composers and play the piano and violin, etc.

They play the piano because if they get to a certain level, they'd get extra credit to get into a good school.

[not edward]

Probably the biggest reason is a spin-off from what Don/Harry have mentioned; the record label is almost certainly paying less to the publisher for rights to a work by a younger composer than they would for an older, more established figure. Which means that increasingly, recordings of contemporary music heavyweights are released by the composer or a company associated with him/her, unless it's music associated with a performing heavyweight who will bring in enough sales to justify the release (Kremer, Mutter, Bashmet, Andsnes, Aimard, Hamelin et al).

And when most recordings lose money or take many years to go into profit, that is going to make a huge difference.

[snyprrr]

That is why I am a 'CD Historian'. Are we all so spoiled by the '90s boom that we can't handle a little Classical Apocalypse?

I also have heard through the grapevine that no one can afford the cost of hiring an orchestra and all the logisitcal stuff, for music that's only going to make it into MY HANDS!!

I made my peace a little while ago; anything that comes out now I'll just have to chalk it up to God! I'm just thankful for the '90s.

I will be hopeful though, and predict that Hyperion, Chandos, BIS, Ondine, Timpani, and all our other fav labels, will come out with ONE MORE cool cd,... just for us!! Make a WishList,... and make it count.


Maybe, just maybe,.... but wait CRC, what about Neos and Aeon, two new labels that seem to have the right idea? And Kairos. One of them started a Maderna Cycle (maybe 'started' is the operative word here?).

Perhaps when they don't make cool cds anymore, we'll consider paying $70 for that copy of 'whatever' at Amazon?



I feel ya!! Where's the rest of that Xenakis Cycle?

[Pierre]

This is true, but where I live nobody knows who Koechlin, Villa-Lobos, Lindberg, or even Stravinsky is. If people don't want to educate themselves and get outside their comfort zones, I'm certainly not going to help them. I know, I know that seems selfish, but nobody told me to listen to this composer or that composer when I started out listening to classical. I learned everything about this music by simply doing the research myself and trying to figure out which composers I would probably gravitate towards. People have asked me before what do I listen to and I told them. Sometimes I would have someone ask what composers I listened to and they will say "Oh, I never heard of any those," but the conversation is over at this point because they didn't ask any further questions about these composers, which, to me, means they were just making conversation. Someone who's at all curious about music and craves it on a daily basis will want to seek out and learn as much as they can because they're passionate about it. I don't listen to classical music because I think I've found some hidden key that somebody else hasn't found, I listen for enjoyment and because the music means something to me. Somebody asked me one time "How can you listen to that garbage?" I simply replied "Very attentively." People have to make up their own minds about music and have to pursue it themselves because they feel this music in their heart.

Okay, rant over...

Good answer.

[StephenC]

The Chinese government seems like sensible people - why do they do something so odd as to want to induce students (only a minuscule minority of which will have musical aptitude) to do something so useless to national development as learning to play the violin or the piano lesson?

Are there Unions of music teachers in China, with clout?

Indeed. They may want to save classical music but with their own instrument, their own traditional music. China has their own instrument  that they are known for right?