Classical music used to be the music of the common man. People used to hum Verdi’s music on the streets.
That’s certainly changed. In your writing, you actually blame the classical music world for alienating everyday people from classical music.
That’s true. There’s too much emphasis on all of the ridiculous trappings that go along with a classical concert experience rather than the music itself. It’s like focusing on the frame instead of the picture.
What are some of those “ridiculous trappings” in your mind?
For starters, why do we dress like 18th century waiters on stage? It makes no sense whatsoever. I understand the classiness of having a uniform, but why does ours have to be tails and bowties and a cummerbund? It doesn’t speak to today’s culture. We have to undress the dress code. It’s a real barrier.
But some people like to dress up to go out.
I certainly don’t discourage anyone from dressing up for a concert; I’m just saying that it shouldn’t feel obligatory.
When did the classical music world take a wrong turn, in your opinion?
At some point in the middle of the 20th century, concert organizations seemed to think that it was good for them to be seen as rarified and separate from the average person. They set up a whole series of roadblocks to understanding and appreciating classical music.
The aforementioned “ridiculous trappings,” right? What else?
The notion that you have to have a certain musical education in order to understand the [musical] pieces. Or the notion that you have to be of a certain socio-economic background or, God forbid, of a certain racial background to truly appreciate this Eurocentric music written by dead white males. None of that could be further from the truth.
So there’s no secret handshake to get into the Symphony?
There’s no secret handshake. In the time of the baroque and classical period, people would go to a classical concert house the way they go to a rock show now. They’d show up late, leave early, make use of the concession stands, gossip about each other, and point at each other.
Sounds no different than the lobby at a Lady Gaga concert.
All of that was part of the regular concert-going experience. That’s why it’s no surprise that every Rossini overture begins with “Ta-Da!” (sings)
What does that mean? Ta-Da?
In musical terms: “Sit down, shut up! It’s time for the music to start! Ta-Da!” That’s how you got people to settle into their seats. You’ll very rarely find any Italian operatic overture that begins quietly. Almost never. Because nobody would have heard the beginning.
I’m trying to think of the parallel for a rock show.
For the rock show, you’ve got the smoke and mirrors. Even if the music starts quietly, you see the band slowly rise out of the ground with smoke and lights and lasers.
You’ve been watching Spinal Tap, haven’t you?
No. (laughs)
Classical concerts do seem very ritualistic, though.
There is a certain ritual: The concertmaster comes out and tunes. The concert conductor comes out; you clap, and then have to be absolutely silent. The music gets extremely exciting and the first movement ends in such a way that you want to run around and throw money and flowers and jump up and down because you’re so excited, but instead what do you hear: silence and then a bunch of coughing.
So when are you supposed to clap at a classical concert?
When it moves you. That said, the musician whose performance is extremely tricky with lots of pyrotechnical stuff would probably appreciate it if you wait until the tricky stuff is over.
In rock or jazz, if there’s a great guitar solo, people can give it up. If people starting clapping or holding up lighters after the first-chair violinist finished her solo, how would you react?
I’ve never experienced it. I would be really interested to experience it though, because what it would signal to me is an audience that is truly committed and involved with what they’re listening to. They’re in the moment.
Don’t conductors sometimes scold audiences for clapping?
If someone claps between movements when I’m conducting, I always turn around and give them a smile.
INTERVIEW CONDUCTED, CONDENSED AND EDITED BY BRIAN EDWARDS;PHOTO: MIKE BUCK
Tickets to the May 8 concert, "The Complete History of Classical Music in 80 Minutes" are available for $10 (students: $5) at the Frauenthal Theater or from StarTickets. Check out a preview of the concert on FOX-17's morning show with Emily Richett and conductor Scott Speck, who boils down a half-millenium of classical music into 80 seconds!
Questions for Scott Speck, music director of West Michigan Symphony and author of Classical Music for Dummies.
