As a classically trained pianist, I am concerned by the sparse student attendance at many of our distinguished Hopkins Center musical performances. At any classical music concert on a Friday or Saturday night at the Hopkins Center, the combined age of the Dartmouth students in attendance is scarcely above the average age of the community members who have made the trek to Hanover from throughout the Upper Valley. A cursory look at the audience would suggest that the Hop is a facet of a retirement community, a far cry from its intended role as our College's cultural hub.
One cannot help but notice that concerts given by Grammy Award-winning pianist Yefim Bronfman and violinist Christian Tetzlaff engender little interest in the greater student body. I find it hard to imagine the Takacs String Quartet selling out in under 15 seconds as Avicii did this term. I doubt that many more than 15 Dartmouth students even know what the Takacs Quartet is. Avicii simply holds a different kind of appeal.
The modern rock star is not so different from the "rock star" of the 19th century. Franz Liszt revolutionized piano performance, and it is rumored that one of his adoring fans kept the butt of one of his cigarettes in her bosom until the day she died. The English court has replaced Haydn with Elton John, and the musicians that were so heralded just a few centuries ago as geniuses are lucky to have even a semblance of name recognition. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this change. Tastes evolve, and while my idea of progress might be different from yours, I'm actually as big a Skrillex fan as the next person. Still, I must wonder: What did these classical celebrities do wrong? Why do Taylor Swift's same four chords rule the airwaves, and why do Drake's shamelessly self-promoting rhymes, such as "last name Ever,' first name Greatest,'" beguile our musical ears?
Perhaps artists feel compelled to cater to the American market, and as a result, they produce music that lacks the same diversity of the music from the past centuries. What if our culture has discouraged the viability of the venerable? As Americans, it seems that we are constantly driving toward faster, newer,better. Change and progress are now synonymous terms, and we forget that movement is not always positive. This is not to say that our ever-changing musical interests are ill-fated and unwarranted, but in our continuous struggle for ingenuity, it seems that we have overlooked the brilliance that existed centuries ago in Austria, Poland, Germany, France and countless other countries. Music follows trends, and with the glamour associated with success in the United States, it comes as no surprise that artists looking to make it big cater to their American audiences first, and in doing so seem to subscribe to the mainstream culture that hipsters the world over love to criticize. We often accuse bands admired in their original form of selling out in order to find larger audiences. But while we berate them for not holding their own, we forget that we may be part of the problem.
Our culture is one that embraces independence above all else, and what could be more independent than breaking out of the mold set forth more than 400 years ago by a few men in large wigs? The biggest catch of all is that we haven't come that far. The chord progressions used in 18th-century Vienna have evolved but are not forgotten in 21st-century Nashville. While examining Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" in Music 21 the other day, we discovered that the oh-so-catchy motif underlying the entire song is merely a pattern that follows the same Circle of Fifths harmonic progression first set forth in 1679 and in Ukraine, no less. Even as we stand at the heights of the Empire State Building, we must still admire the Colosseum, and these same principles apply to music. Whether or not we realize it, classical music remains ubiquitous, and on the most basic level, it shall remain the standard for centuries to come. I am not worried about the state of classical music, for it will long outlive me. But I encourage you to go to a classical concert at the Hop sometime, or turn Pandora onto something that predates your grandmother.
