paradigm shift for classical music

Paradigm Shift for Classical Music

Thinking of the Wall Street Journal Article which categorized classical
musical as pass� by relegating it to the left column whose first entry
is Newton.

The right column is headed by Einstein under which blues and jazz have
replaced classical music due to a paradigm shift. The general drift of
the article is a new business model which features workers'
participation in decision making.

I have to admit the picture of a symphony orchestra used in the article
evoked in me a sense of an older world order. People busy and efficient
like ants. All under the direction of one central leader. You couldn't
hear the music, but from the vintage of the picture you were likely in
Vienna during Johann Strauss.

Which leads me to a question that I've been asking myself repeated since
the article appeared, namely, what would the classical music sound like
that would place it in the right hand column where it belongs?

After hearing Jeff Beck tonight at the Universal Amphitheater in Burbank
I'm really inspired to get a handle on this.

1. What is classical music?
a. designed for acoustic instruments
b. music communicated to musicians through notation
c. traces its lineage through historical European high art music which
places high value on harmony, economy of means and has quested for
realizing the music of ancient Greece
d. extolled by Nietzsche as the foundation of culture in The Birth of
Tragedy

2. classical music becomes the blues
a. just intoned melody over a 12ET chord progression

3. world music contains many classical traditions, many of great age
(some older than ancient Greece) and a number are highly sophisticated
a. classical music might adopt a number of these or new techniques by
which to organize itself
b. non-European and ancient musics have been characterized as melodic
c. Nietzsche implies that the solution may spring out of India
d. ancient Greek musical theorists were as preoccupied with JI musical
scales as members of the tuning@onelist

4. the fugue is a musical form that can be used for exploring tunings
and harmony

5. by universally adopting a higher resolution ET, the important task
of writing harmonic music can begin in earnest, instruments can be
redesigned, textbooks rewritten

This has to be fleshed out, but these are some of the lines I'm thinking
about.

RT

Rick Tagawa wrote:

> 2. classical music becomes the blues
> a. just intoned melody over a 12ET chord progression

I disagree with both of these.