Classical Music’s Suicide Pact

[cato potatoe]

Classical Music’s Suicide Pact (Part 1)
Succumbing to specious charges of racism, America’s orchestras, opera companies, and conductors are abandoning the Western canon.
Heather MacDonald

Classical music is under racial attack. Orchestras and opera companies are said to discriminate against black musicians and composers. The canonical repertoire—the product of a centuries-long tradition of musical expression—is allegedly a function of white supremacy.

Not one leader in the field has defended Western art music against these charges. Their silence is emblematic. Other supposed guardians of Western civilization, whether museum directors, humanities professors, or scientists, have gone AWOL in the face of similar claims, lest they themselves be denounced as racist.

The campaign against classical music is worth examining in some detail, for it reveals the logic that has been turned against nearly every aspect of Western culture over the last year. The crusade began within days of the death of George Floyd in late May 2020. Floyd died during an arrest in Minneapolis; cell-phone video captured Officer Derek Chauvin (since convicted of murder) keeping his knee on the prone Floyd’s neck and back for nearly eight minutes, while Floyd repeated “I can’t breathe.” Riots against police brutality broke out across the U.S.; institution after institution pledged to fight the structural racism that Floyd’s death supposedly represented.

continued
https://www.city-journal.org/classical-music-under-racial-attack-part-1

[cato potatoe]

Part II
https://www.city-journal.org/classical-music-under-racial-attack-part-2

[catfish1957]

By millions of us getting a daily dose of this shit shoved down our throats, how does the BLM thugs not think they are creating a whole new generation of white people who despise black culture.

I used to pride myself on being a colorblind kind of guy, who based a person's worth based on their own merits, not race.

BLM's intent has backfired in a massive way

[Kamaji]

Meh, if they want to play that stupid game, then all those precious, precocious little SJWs in the orchestras had better learn to say "you want fries with that?", or "fill 'er up?" because without listeners, their careers are dead meat.

As for those of us who enjoy classical music - that's what recordings are for - there will be no dearth of classical music in my household just because a bunch of idiots have gone woke and chosen to not play it.

[Slide Rule]

Guess I will be sticking with Mozart Heroes as I haven't heard this sort of cowardice from them.
Besides there are a lot fewer of them so they are also more economical. Best thing, there are
no lyrics.


Nothing Else Matters (Metallica) : MOZART HEROES (Official Video)

https://youtu.be/pxoW-00Zyho


AC/DC Thunderstruck - Barrios : MOZART HEROES [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

https://youtu.be/gs4sDzgVKy8

[jmyrlefuller]

Meh, if they want to play that stupid game, then all those precious, precocious little SJWs in the orchestras had better learn to say "you want fries with that?", or "fill 'er up?" because without listeners, their careers are dead meat.

As for those of us who enjoy classical music - that's what recordings are for - there will be no dearth of classical music in my household just because a bunch of idiots have gone woke and chosen to not play it.

In 1994, a guy named Lloyd Rigler established the Classic Arts Showcase to showcase, well, classical music and stage work. He died in 2003. The channel is on autopilot and will be until at least 2040 because Rigler put enough money into the station to keep it running for decades.

http://www.classicartsshowcase.org/

Public radio is also, for now, still airing the classics. Ironically, the music of the PoC intelligentsia (jazz) has been disappearing from public radio for the past decade now, so public radio may be getting even whiter.

[Slide Rule]

Meh, if they want to play that stupid game, then all those precious, precocious little SJWs in the orchestras had better learn to say "you want fries with that?", or "fill 'er up?" because without listeners, their careers are dead meat.

As for those of us who enjoy classical music - that's what recordings are for - there will be no dearth of classical music in my household just because a bunch of idiots have gone woke and chosen to not play it.

Dead meat? That is their future.

They will always be able to play for their families. If they are wealthy by their
short career that should be good enough.

[goatprairie]

I mean how many black people actually listen to classical music? One percent?  I'll bet that's being generous. I'm counting simply having a recording in their domiciles apart from frequently listening to classical music. I'll bet the numbers of white people who listen to classical music are pretty small as well.
Just another case of perpetual whiners and complainers not understanding where they stand in life. The world  bends over backwards to accommodate black people, but it's still not enough.
Too frequently black people overestimate their worth and underestimate their deficiencies.
I have a tremendous case of black fatigue.

[Fishrrman]

catfish proclaimed:
"I used to pride myself on being a colorblind kind of guy, who based a person's worth based on their own merits, not race."

Fair enough.
What have the experiences of life and an awakening consciousness to "racial reality" taught you since then...?
(I am not color blind. Never really was. Don't mind telling you that.)

But... as to the original article:
Classical music was a cultural creation of white Christian Western Civilization.
This is undeniably true.

But appreciation and emulation of it has not remained "solely white" -- look at how Asians (the Chinese, the Japanese) have embraced it. Some great classical instruments are now coming from Asia... violins, pianos. (Some nice mandolins, too)

Black composers and musicians who are interested are welcome into the Classical music field if they wish to pursue it.

But that does not grant automatic recognition of their accomplishments within the music.
That must be earned over time...