Friday 16 January 2015

The Line Between Classical and Modern Music


When thinking about how classical music has influenced modern music one of the first names that enters the conversation is Schubert. Many people consider the Austrian composer to be the inspiration for the modern pop song, his use of verses and choruses in particular. Schubert wanted the chorus to be memorable and resonate with the audience; it’s hard to name a modern rock or pop song that doesn’t share this ambition.

Schubert also established song cycles, a group of songs created to stand individually but be performed in a sequence as a unit. Die schöne Müllerin, Winterreise and Schwanengesang are renowned examples of his song cycle work, the later being his last, posthumous collection of songs. Song cycles still exist today but arguably the most modern use of the genre is in the concept album. Like Schubert’s song cycles these albums are designed by its composers to be played in a specific order, often to tell a story. Whilst these songs can be heard individually, and arguably thanks to the release of singles they are heard on an individual basis more than classical works, this work is best enjoyed as a whole. Albums such as The Wall by Pink Floyd and The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance were even toured as a whole by the bands in questions. When seeing My Chemical Romance on The Black Parade World Tour in 2007 they played two sets, one containing the complete album performed in order and an encore of older songs. In principal the first set was no different to Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin being performed in Viennna in 1856. Except that first public performance from Julius Christian Stockhausen probably didn’t include the marching band uniforms, confetti, cannons and pyrotechnics that My Chemical Romance had.

Even though the theatrics and presentation of music may have changed, most modern music shares its themes with classical. Schubert, Puccini and Ravel all wrote about love and trying to get to grips with life. The biggest selling songs of last year, which came from the likes of Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Ella Henderson all share this theme. These modern day artists, especially Ed Sheeran, are famous for putting across all their inner thoughts and emotions in songs. Arguably one of the earliest examples of a musician doing this was Beethoven. Whilst Beethoven made this connection using instrumental pieces and the element of Ed Sheeran’s work that most connect with is his lyrics, they have both created music with fervour and a desire to be true to themselves. Beethoven once said that “to play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable”. Ed Sheeran is recently quoted as saying, “I can’t tell you the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone”. Whilst these quotes are about two different subjects, they show that the enthusiasm and honesty that made classical composers popular with audiences are attributes that continue to be seen in many modern artists.

Many classical musicians have written compositions in the form of variations on a theme by another composer. Beethoven, Hahn and Herzogenberg for example all created variations based on work by Mozart. The modern day equivalent of this is arguably sampling, the act of taking a section (or sample) of a piece of music and reusing it in a different song. The modern influence and love of classical music can be seen in the number of songs that sample classical pieces. To use Mozart as an example again, Massive Attack, David Bowie and Clean Bandit have sampled his music in songs. There are countless other examples, including many surprising connections including pop group S Club 7 reworking Fauré's Pavane and hip hop artist Nas sampling Für Elise by Beeethoven.

The line between classical music and modern music is one that has always intrigued me. There are many people that feel they should be separate and you could of course argue that the similarities that Beethoven and Ed Sheeran have in their approach to music isn’t necessarily a result of the later being directly influenced by classical music but more a representation of the passion you need to succeed. However in my opinion music is influenced by a number of factors including culture and history. Classical music has had a big impact on both of these and without it the musical landscape we have today would, in my opinion, be drastically different.


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