Acoustics for Audiologists Book

Essentially a long essay on the value of classical music in contemporary society, "Who Needs Classical Music?" poses an important question. As a classical musician myself, I have often pondered it, and looked for good answers to justify our field's constant search for funding.

Johnson writes eloquently and passionately in defense of the art, and he makes some excellent points--most especially about the importance of "music-as-art," which he defines essentially as music which only makes sense when you hear it unfold over time, which does not offer immediate gratification or necessarily serve a specific function. He argues that we need tools--i.e., education--in order to fully understand this music and benefit from it, and laments the increasingly mainstream view that this is a waste of students' time and taxpayers' money. We don't question the need to study math or science in order to know it; why do we tend to feel that music which requires study is somehow "elitist"?

All great points, and I certainly don't need convincing about the benefits of music in education. But as a classical musician who was raised on rock, jazz, and the whole vernacular gamut--and who still practices these styles from time to time--I was disappointed to find that Johnson is yet another dyed-in-the-wool classical musician who really doesn't understand these forms and how they work. He takes it as a given that pop music cannot be art, that it is specifically and universally designed for instant gratification. I may be biased as a disciple of progressive rock, but I think there are many examples which contradict this view.

He also repeatedly dismisses pop music as harmonically and structurally "primitive," and wonders how a 1950's rock song could somehow ignore the genius of 20th century composers like Debussy, Stravinsky, et al. It's not primitive; it's African. The primary musical element is rhythm, and structure basically doesn't apply; the music is meant to unfold and change over a long period of time, which is why recorded rock music often relies on fade-outs--a device taken by Johnson as proof that rock musicians are too dumb to write a decent song ending.

There are many signs that classical music is in decline, and has been for a long time. It needs passionate advocates like Johnson. But with popular music clearly the dominant strain in our culture, we need to be building bridges for people to cross over and experience classical music in a meaningful way. As any engineer will tell you, you can't do that effectively if you don't really know the ground you're building on--on both sides.