Chopin-Schumann 200th Anniversary Celebration. Lack of interest among young people. Why?

Question

Hello

I don’t know what you guys think but I’m very upset about this situation.

200 years ago Chopin and Schumann were born and this important fact has not received the importance that it deserves.

Chopin and Schumann were key characters not only in music but in art as well.

Mankind should remember deeply geniuses like them and it is true that Polish government proclaimed 2010 as the Year of Chopin, but ministries of culture around the world have not planned concerts and special conferences about this event.

Do art and music matter no more?

It seems that nowadays 90% of young people prefer listening to Lady Gaga and watching cheap movies such as Twilight to understanding Schumann’s works or playing Chopin’s piano pieces. Why?

I’m in my twenties and I have been very interested in Art and Classical music since I was a kid.

Answer 1

No there is not a lack of interest. In October, hundreds of thousands of people (many of them young, like me) watched the Chopin competition in live streaming all over the world. If you missed the competition, as well as numerous other broadcasts and concerts in honour of Chopin and Schumann, I'm sorry but that's too bad for you. You can either keep moaning and groaning and wallowing in misery over the fact that classical music isn't part of North American popular culture; or you can go learn a new Chopin nocturne, go to a Schumann recital, enjoy a good CD, etc.



I distinctly remember this exact question being asked at least twice last month, so that's quite enough complaining. Cheer up :)

Answer 2

I feel the same way, im 13 and i hate it when i look up and realize that kids would rather play Video games and listen to "Bad Romance" than play an instrument and listen to a Chopin Nocturne. Honestly i think im the only 13 year old who would rather buy a complete set of Liszt Trancendental etudes than Call of Duty Black ops. As for your question, to be honest i adore Chopin music and i would definatley be at that Celebration



but...



Nowadays Chopin isnt given as much attention as before (after all 200 years does take its toll on someones popularity) because it just doesnt give much of a thrill as more modern music. You can see that the modern society is looking for Adrenaline, speed, new things. 200 years doesn't seem very new to me.

Answer 3

This is like deja vu all over again.....



You've asked this Q about Chopin / Schumann jointly and separately a number of times now.



Maybe where you live there is 'no one else,' but in larger cities tons of young people are consuming, listening to, attending concerts of, learning to play: CLASSICAL MUSIC.



As my esteemed colleague Nemesis said (BEFORE, in answer to one of your many repeats of this question!) Classical music has been taking good care of itself for 1500 years before You came along to Advertise Your Upset.



Lots of young people in Chopin and Schumann's time didn't listen to classical music At All - fact is, probably more of the general population, including young people, listen to it now - Including Schumann and Chopin - than they did back in the Romantic Era.



Give it a rest, or at least stop whingeing and Do something about it.





Best regards.

Answer 4

They need exposure.



See, it's like this. A young person who likes Math knows all kinds of Math. Say, a 15 year old who knows mega-hyper-calculus or even memorized Einstein's Theory of Relativity (which is kind of hard to understand, mind you). How did he know those stuff? Either he learned them from a real mathematician or he studied them himself.



That's what young people today lack. They don't have people to teach them or even the initiative to study it.



Now . . . I think you remember a group called Westlife (I'm 18 and I know of them because of my sister). That's what music meant to me back then, vocal music with surreptitiously repetitive melodies, overly used rhythm, and so on. But since I first heard Maksim playing Rachmaninov-Korsakoff (his "Flight") about 4 or 5 years ago, I've never been tired of listening to classical music. It's the only music I keep listening to (unless I was forced to listen to others). I studied it. I caught up with theory and such. Because, not to brag but to say, I have initiative.

Answer 5

this is the way its always been, young people like to be hip (a really unhip term for cool ha) and up to date, they dont really care about deeper meaning yet. im sure when they are older they will.