Question for Western (Classical) music connoisseurs... why is Classical better?

Question

I like a good deal of "classical" music, Haydn, Beethoven, Rossini, Wagner, Ligeti, piano music like Chopin, Gottschalk, Joplin, etc.

But I certainly can't say I have a knowledge of the terms or the concepts behind why certain classical pieces are more complex, better, or whatever.

I can understand the idea of complexity, that if you understand the idea behind musical notes better, you are able to create a more complex piece... is that all there is to it?

If a guitar piece is as complex as a solo violin piece, is the latter still "better" by definition? How does one apply terms like "sarcasm" and "irony" to a piece of music? Would you say a great piece of wordless music, a symphony, for example, can achieve the level of brilliance of a great novel? How so? And why might it by definition be better than modern music with words?

What do you think of the notion that combining music with words, while detracting from the complexity of the musicality of a piece, adds to the poetry of it?

Answer 1

No style of music is better than any other.



I love nearly all music, but classical music (by which I assume you mean "orchestral/chamber" music, given your list of examples) often contains something more, quantatively, "complete."



A song may be great on its own or on an album. A symphony or concerto is a world within its self.



Musical jokes are often extraordinarily simple or complex - lots of silences-sudden sounds-silences-sudden sounds, etc, can sound quite funny. But most musical "sarcasm" and jokes are very technical, and require a great deal of hard work from the listener, and usually only make sense to the composers themselves, or other music buffs far cleverer than I.



A good example of sarcasm, irony, and earth shattering humour is Shostakovich's 10th symphopny (I think it was his 10th/) The Communists had banned virtually all experimental music, and he was forced to compose only music which expressly celebrated Russian nationalism. What he came up with was, on the surface, what was required, but, well...I'll let you check it out yourself and see (or rather "hear) what you think.



I fear I have just waffled on and not really answered. I'm listening to Prince right now, and see him as just as innovative and talented as many classical composers (though from a purely technical stand point, to compose, at frequency, for an entire orchestra, is some achievement, regardless of how formulaic it becomes.)

Answer 2

I know some of the implest forms of music that have the power to transport the listener completely out of reality. Music is good according to how it hypnotizes the listener it isn't about the complexity it is about the power. A piece of music can be complex and mathematical....perfect if you are Monk. But if you are an emotional composer your music will travel throughout history and will be played by many performers of various genres.



I think that most contemporary classical music fits quite well into heavy metal styles. One of my favorite classical Cds were a collaboration between the San Francisco Symphony and Metallica. The Modern Jazz Quartet recorded Air on The G String. The melody was the same but the chord progression was a little different. The Kronos Quartet does music written by composers who lived during the 20th and 21at centuries, only. This is a fine string quartet that performs music that is classical, jazz, rock and anything in between. A well written piece of music regardless of the degree of complesity is comparable to a good novel. Don't listen to musci with the mind of a mathematician...listen to it with the mind of an artist. Use your imagination then you will begin to value music for what it is.

Answer 3

Z, I believe you are actually referring to Shostakovich No.5. Another good example of irony/humor in classical music would be Mahler's Symphony No. 1 where the folk song Frera Jacka is played in minor.



Taste in all of the arts is not an entirely subjective issue. However, instrumentation or genre are generally not factors used to determine whether a piece of music is good or bad; fails or succeeds.



Also, the notion that a piece of music with words is a step below one without words is not true. Take for example the Renaissance Madrigals of the Secunda Practica. In this music, the words were thought to be more important than the music (the music was there to serve the words). However, in making the music servant to the words, a new sound was created that had never been matched in expressiveness and beauty and was never heard again until Wagner (listen to Gesualdo da Venosa's Madrigals to hear what I am saying).



If you are interested in learning how to tell good music from bad music, or how to develop your sense of taste, take a introductory class on aesthetics or just read about aesthetics on the internet or something.

Answer 4

Several factors: ■ Classical music doesn't give you a scene change once every 30 seconds, popular music does. There is nothing wrong with the classical music style, and Hollywood producers realize that. That's why they give the public the 1812 Overture and the Taco Bell Canon in bite-size doses, but don't make the public sit and watch an orchestra for two hours. Or, on rare occasions, they give us entire compositions, but with frequent scene changes. Nobody ever said Walt Disney's Fantasia was boring. The Italian movie Allegro non troppo is another good one. It's probably not popular music that the public prefers, but rather the dancing girls, the blinking lights, and the fireworks. ■ Classical music is in a foreign language more often than is popular music. Yes, I know, there have been operas composed in English at least as far back as Henry Purcell. But operas written in English have been overshadowed by French, Italian, and German opera. And that is what most people think of when the word "opera" is mentioned. ■ Classical music prefers knowledge of music theory, popular music doesn't. Why does the Peer Gynt Suite get selected for music appreciation classes? Because anyone can imagine the mountain gnomes taunting Peer Gynt. Why does the Persian Market get selected? Because everyone knows what a beautiful princess looks like. Say what you want to about the greatness of Mozart's Symphony no. 40, but most people don't know when the music is changing from g minor to Bb major. Which is easier for most people to understand, the exposition of a sonata movement, or rock musicians smashing guitars on the stage? ■ Classical music is instrumental more often than is popular music. Since the average Joe Blow doesn't know g minor from Bb major, song lyrics help sustain the listener's attention. I remember in the Sixties, there was a pop music hit in which the sound of pop corn popping was simulated. But other than that, I don't remember any instrumental hits. On the whole, it is only after a song becomes familiar to the general public that an instrumental setting could become popular. Which is easier for most people to understand, g minor and Bb major, or "Baby, one more time"?

Answer 5

Classical music isn't necessarily better, it's just better destined for immortality.

There are two reasons:



1. Classical music is usually more complex. A symphonic theme is usually not in 4 nice neat 4-bar phrases. Furthermore, a symphonic theme becomes fragmented, modulated, and contrapuntalized. This renders it more interesting in the long run.



2. Classical music doesn't get played to death when it first comes out, so people don't get sick and tired of hearing it. The same thing can happen when a classical composition gets dug out of the archives and played to death.



All those who are sick and tired of hearing the Pachelbel canon, raise your hand.

Answer 6

There is no relationship between complexity and good music. Some classical music is very simple but still very beautiful.

Some rock music is quite complex but I still regard it as rubbish .