Comparing achievements in Classical music and Pop

[Lykren]

Are there any people or groups working in the 'Pop' style whose achievements you think have artistic merit that is roughly equal to that of the greatest composers of the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras? I am using the word 'Pop' in the loosest possible sense, so for instance, Miles Davis could be an answer, as could Pink Floyd, as could the band Grizzly Bear.

I realize this may be a difficult question, given that the separate styles are vastly different in their forms and sensibilities, but nonetheless I think it should raise some interesting questions. If you don't think that there is anyone working in the styles developed after the invention of sound recording technology whose achievements are worthy of being set beside those of Bach or Beethoven's, why do you think that is?

I'll post my own opinions a bit later, if this gets a reply or two.

[Emil Miller]

Comment is unnecessary, because it's a non sequitur. I shall, however, enjoy reading the replies that will inevitably follow.

[Lykren]

Comment is unnecessary, because it's a non sequitur. I shall, however, enjoy reading the replies that will inevitably follow.

I don't follow. What are you referring to as being a non sequitur?

[Emil Miller]

Quite simply that it does not follow that so-called 'pop music' can be compared to that of a musically higher order.

[Lykren]

Do you see jazz as being music of a lower order?

In any case, I don't see how playing music in a certain style limits one's abilities to create worthwhile works of art. Keith Jarrett undoubtedly understands that, which is why he he has played with Miles Davis, as well as recorded some of the greatest compositions for solo piano.

But perhaps using the word 'Pop' was a mistake (though I tried to clarify matters slightly by listing possible answers in my first post). Since the phrase 'pop music' usually refers to music that is developed more for commercial reasons than artistic ones, I can understand your antipathy. Nevertheless, there is no reason why such a system cannot, occasionally, become a medium through which artists of real merit produce music.

To use the classic example, Shakespeare's art was popular in its day, and vastly different in tone than the works of Classical Rome and Greece which were and are revered. That fact did not prevent his plays from, in time, garnering equal (and deserved) praise to that of the classics.

[Ecurb]

Jazz and rock musicians are often higher than classical musicians, whatever their drug of choice.

[stlukesguild]

Are there any people or groups working in the 'Pop' style whose achievements you think have artistic merit that is roughly equal to that of the greatest composers of the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras?

Equal to the "greatest" composers of the "Classical" tradition? There aren't any contemporary or near-contemporary "classical" composers that roughly equal the achievements of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Wagner, etc...

I am using the word 'Pop' in the loosest possible sense, so for instance, Miles Davis could be an answer, as could Pink Floyd, as could the band Grizzly Bear.

Miles Davis and Duke Ellington probably come the closest. While Emil will probably hate to admit it, Jazz is something of a hybrid... a merger of the classical and folk/popular traditions in the US. It may just be the greatest artistic contribution made by America. It was as much absorbed by classical composers (Debussy, Ravel, Kurt Weil, Shostakovitch, Gershwin, Milhaud, etc...) as were classical elements absorbed by jazz musicians (MJQ, Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Lennie Tristano, etc...) Popular music (Blues, Bluegrass, Broadway, Country & Western, Rock, etc...) is far closer to folk music. It rarely even approaches any of the complexity of the finest classical music. I say this in spite of the fact that I love Muddy Waters, Elmore James, the Louvin Brothers, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, etc... It is difficult to see how Popular Music will survive over time as the recording technology that it depends upon is but 100 years old. I suspect that the finest individual songs will survive just as "Summertime" or "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" have survived and become recognized as "classics" or "standards". But how much will survive of Popular Music when the audience weened on a given body of work passes away?

I realize this may be a difficult question, given that the separate styles are vastly different in their forms and sensibilities, but nonetheless I think it should raise some interesting questions. If you don't think that there is anyone working in the styles developed after the invention of sound recording technology whose achievements are worthy of being set beside those of Bach or Beethoven's, why do you think that is?

Popular music is largely limited to the simple, repetitive song form. Classical composers wrote in a vast array of forms and genre... including complex forms in which simple melodic ideas were developed and expanded upon. The greatest classical composers wrote a huge body of work of the greatest variety. If we look at even some of the finest pop groups... let's say the Beatles... we might generously suggest that their "essential" work might be reduced to 4 or 5 CDs worth of music... all songs averaging 3 minutes or so... the majority scored for two guitars, bass, and drums. To compare this to the scale and variety of music that might be considered the "essential" repertoire of Mozart or Beethoven would be embarrassing.

Yes... the finest jazz and the finest popular music might be compared with the achievements of many classical composers... and some of the work will likely survive and become recognized as a form of "classic" or "standard"... but I've yet to stumble upon anything to rival Bach or Mozart. But then quite honestly... I don't see the point of such comparisons. There is such a gap between these art forms and their intentions that it seems as fruitless as comparing Rembrandt, Rubens, and Michelangelo to comic books and video games.

[Lykren]

I think there are several fundamental differences between 'pop' and 'classical' that explain some of the observations you made. It seems to me that pop, because it developed alongside recording technology, is therefore focused on texture (a.k.a. timbre) and performance. Classical music, because historically it has had to rely on composition for permanency, is consequently weighted towards melody and harmony.

That's not to say, of course, that classical music cannot involve timbre and pop cannot involve harmony and melody. The textures in the Missa Solemnis blew me away; likewise, the vocal melody over the change from Bmadd5# to Asus4 in Elliott Smith's "Angeles" gives me chills. But because we can now record each performance, it's only natural that we are learning to approach music from an angle which takes into account the limitless variety of textures that occur with each performance. So for instance, the striking part for me of Dylan's classic "Blood on the Tracks" is not the words, nor the melodies, but the evocative changes in timbre Dylan's voice undergoes within each song.

The electronic aspect of the recording process, through which we are able to perform infinitely detailed modifications, is naturally something people are eager to learn to apply. As for pop consisting solely of simplistic arrangements and song structures, there are in fact many, many bands currently working with nonstandard instrumentation and structures. That's not to say they are all good, but it does go to show that there is a wealth of new options that are being explored.

The limited oeuvre of most talented 'pop' (remember I am using that word extremely loosely) artists is most likely a result of such innovation; because they are working with such strikingly new 'instruments', there is little formal theory to build upon. In a sense, we are in virgin territory. Of course, old influences have not been discarded. Instead, musicians are working to incorporate old ideas into new formats. The result is that the music being produced may sound alien, but it is in fact very much a part of both the European and African musical traditions.

Here are a few albums I believe represent the best of such music-making:

The Koln Concert
Kind of Blue
A Love Supreme
Blood on the Tracks
Either/Or
American IV
American VI
Loveless
mbv
In Rainbows

and I'm sure I'll think of more later. Anyways here are links to those last three albums, which I hope will prove informative regarding the radical significance of the electronic element of the recording process.

Loveless: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhxXn60Z0yk

mbv: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBKjhgHGVZs&list=PLV5Dj2xlNnONJWlHRLnxoEDHp89rKoNpO

In Rainbows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSx6hXHzRHc

You say to compare the two modes of music-making is fruitless. But art arises from the instinct to create, to fashion the new from the old, and this quality unites various styles through time and space. To label such comparisons as a case of 'apples and oranges' seems to me reductive, and antagonistic to the meaning of art in our lives. This meaning may find wildly contrasting outlets, from the many varieties of religious art (Mayan, Hellenistic, Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu) to the secularism that pervades much of modern art, but this is not to say that the meaning itself varies.

[Lokasenna]

I'd like to avoid using the terms 'high' and 'low' culture, but I suspect the argument boils down to that. It's not neccesarily a value judgement - there are plenty of classical works that are torture on the ears, and quite a few pop songs that are actually rather good. Much as I like listening to Haydn string quartets, sometimes it is impossible to resist the urge to put on 'Queen's Greatest Hits' and just let loose. Freddie Mercury was an accomplished lyricist, singer and performer whose work carries the mark of quality and sincerity - does that make him the equal of, say, Schubert? Well, no - at least not in technical accomplishment - but it does make him enjoyable to listen to.

Like Luke says, it's not always convenient to compare one thing with another: neither is empirically better than the other, they are merely different. That said, I suspect there are considerably more 'great' classical composers than there are 'great' popular music artists.

[mal4mac]

I'd like to avoid using the terms 'high' and 'low' culture, but I suspect the argument boils down to that. It's not neccesarily a value judgement - there are plenty of classical works that are torture on the ears...


Or maybe the culture is just too high for you and me :)?

There are two kinds of classical music I don't like, the modern serial, atonal stuff and "churn it out by the yard" Haydn. The former was, I feel, a wrong turn; the latter is forgiveable. The aristocrats expected Haydn to churn it out by the yard, so you get some wonderful music but a lot of filler.

Still the best Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven is surely better than any pop music. I mean you don't see Beethoven deciding to advance his cause by writing clever little pop songs after completing his great symphonies and string quartets, but the many of the most talented pop artists, Paul McCartney, for instance, have tried to move on by writing serious classical music. I mean pop music is a basically "silly love songs", or "punk expression", for teenagers. Get a little experience of listening to music and you want more than that. Don't you?

For me classical music *is* better than pop, not just different. It sounds better, what more empirical evidence do you need? That said, I don't think it sounds better on first hearing, repeated & concentrated listening is required.

[Lykren]

Well for starters I wouldn't name Freddy Mercury or Paul McCartney as great representatives of rock. Two of the most famous rock musicians, to be sure, but that does not mean they are the best. Just because the famous pop musicians don't represent the height of the genre, don't let that make you draw conclusions about the essence of the genre as a whole.

Silly love songs? Punk expression? I like neither, but I like certain 'pop' musicians very much. There is a whole world of sophistication out there beyond Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson and all that crap. You just have to do a little exploring to find the good stuff, which has mostly been done for us with the Western classical composing tradition.

[stlukesguild]

This dispute between "high" and "low" art has been going on for more than most would imagine. Dante wrote De vulgari eloquentia (On Eloquence in the vernacular) in defense of the notion that the colloquial local language (Italian in his instance) might rise to the level of achievement no less than Latin. The theater of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Donne, Moliere, etc... was not considered "serious" literature at the time. Shakespeare never even bothered to publish his plays... even after he had retired and there was no longer a need to protect the text from competing theaters. Writers/critics as astute as Samuel Johnson and Jonathan Swift were quite dismissive of the novel... the "new romance"... when it first came upon the scene. Printmaking, Photography, Film, Television, etc... have all suffered from the assumption that they could aspire to nothing more than a shallow populist art.

Picasso argued that "high art" left to its own devices would soon ossify into a dry, passionless academic art. This seems quite true if we look at the products of academia today:

http://www.lannan.org/images/artworks/untitled-1991-stedelijk-museum-amsterdam-db980-agnes-martin.jpg
-Agnes Martin, Untitled

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvg3fupBct1qav5oho1_500.jpg
-Carl Andre, Equivalent VIII

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pB0UGx7UaCo/UCug4Ow9PxI/AAAAAAAAAHc/EJuPQSt9GJo/s640/conceptualart1.jpg
-Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs

One can find much of the same mental Onanism among contemporary "classical" music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZazYFchLRI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mUv705xj3U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2o9VyuJSD4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhcKao5nDNQ

Picasso went on to suggest that the finest art has always been created in the same way in which the Italian Renaissance Aristocracy created their heirs: through a merger of the Aristocratic and the "Low Born"... the "High" and the "Low".

This merger of the "High" and "Low" has long existed in Classical Music. Bach's cantatas were often built upon simple, popular hymns, His instrumental works frequently made use of popular dance forms such as the waltz, gigue (jig), gavotte, minuet, etc... Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, etc... all borrowed from folk and popular music sources. With the rise of Nationalism you have composers making open use of native national folk tunes and forms as in Chopin's polonaises, Liszt's use of Hungarian folk sources, and of course Bartok. As we enter into the 20th century we have composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Shostakovitch, Milhaud, and many others building upon Jazz.

"Folk Music" always existed alongside of "Classical Music" but it was largely a local/regional phenomena. As the creators of "folk music" largely could not read music, it was rarely passed on over time or beyond the locale from which it originated. This began to change during the 19th century when writers (like the Grimm Brothers), composers, musicologists, and historians began to collect, preserve, document, and publish "folk" art, "folk" music, and "folk" tales. It was around this time that the term "Classical Music" was first employed as a means of differentiating the work from presumably "lower" folk and popular music forms including theatrical music, the cabaret, etc...

Recording technology certainly changed everything. With the ability to broadcast music, "folk" and "popular" music forms could reach a larger audience than ever before possible. With the ability to record musical performances folk and popular musicians had the same ability as the formally educated Classical composer to preserve his or her music. Recording technology also allowed for the preservation of improvisation... something that we know was of great importance in Baroque music... but which could not be preserved or "recorded". It also meant that the performances of specific performers... singers and instrumentalists... could be preserved and experienced by a huge audience.

Ultimately, the biggest difference between Classical Music and Popular Music is that Classical Music is Composer-Centered where Popular Music is Performer-Centered. Jazz, as always, straddles the line. The music is often based upon pre-existing popular tunes or standards... or even Classical melodies. These are then reinterpreted in an often spontaneous or improvisational manner. There may be differences in interpretation when it comes to Classical Music. Glenn Gould is quite different in his performance of the same works of Bach performed by Murray Perahia... but these differences are limited to interpretations of what exists in the score. Every last element in a song by Schubert or Debussy or Richard Strauss has been scored by the composers. This is rarely true of popular music. Lennon and McCartney of the Beatles are commonly championed as two of the greatest song-writers of the Rock/Pop era. But how much of the song did they write. They may have written the melody and lyrics... but quite often the instrumental accompaniment was worked out with others in the band. There were also contributions of George Martin, the producer, who often scored instrumental backing, and other musicians were brought in... such as the jazz band for Got to Get You Into My Life or Eric Clapton on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. The end result... the song as it is known... is not simply the product of Lennon and McCartney... but more of a collaborative effort... not unlike film.

This is not to undermine or denigrate the resulting work... but it is to suggest that there is a great difference between Classical Music and Popular Music. Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited may be a work of genius... but it wholly depends upon the original recording. One seriously cannot imagine someone else recording their own interpretation without making major changes in terms of score, instrumentation, etc... Yet no one would think to take one of Richard Strauss' songs and change the score, the instrumentation, etc... It would no longer be Strauss' composition, but rather a variation upon Strauss by another composer.

I rather agree with mal4mac in that I am not convinced that Pop Music has produced any achievements to rival the finest achievements of Classical Music.

[stlukesguild]

Well for starters I wouldn't name Freddy Mercury or Paul McCartney as great representatives of rock. Two of the most famous rock musicians, to be sure, but that does not mean they are the best.

Fame is no proof for or against artistic merit. The fact that a great many critics of the genre place a high value upon a given performer/musician might be worthy of consideration in judging artistic merit.

Just because the famous pop musicians don't represent the height of the genre, don't let that make you draw conclusions about the essence of the genre as a whole.

Its always easy to suggest that there are these unknown geniuses within an art form/genre that only certain cognoscenti are aware of. Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart are probably the three most universally known names within the realm of classical music... and they are also the best.

Silly love songs? Punk expression? I like neither, but I like certain 'pop' musicians very much. There is a whole world of sophistication out there beyond Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson and all that crap.

Sophistication? I'm sorry but a great deal of the best Blues, Bluegrass, and Rock & Roll has nothing to do with sophistication: Muddy Waters, Elmore James, the Carter Family, the Louvin Brothers, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Dylan (musically if not in terms of lyrics), the Rolling Stones... Personally, I find a great deal of the efforts toward "sophistication" in Pop/Rock... "Progressive Rock... is painfully pretentious twaddle.

You just have to do a little exploring to find the good stuff, which has mostly been done for us with the Western classical composing tradition.

You are assuming that others haven't explored music as much or more than yourself.

[JCamilo]

That is the point right, Pop music - specially the rock and roll music - is akim to folk tales as Red Hiding Hood, unselected, with their vallue, basic, direct to the point (which is very different from Rock and Roll culture, which enriches the vallue of their music, as the punk, hipppie, etc. culture does). I would say, the pop concept Andy Warhol (we list him as the second favorite artist in Stlukes's list :D) really works for Rock and Roll and culture (the pictures, the soap seems just a little more elaborte version of duchamps version). His best work is Velvet Underground.

One day, someone can do like Perrault, La Fontaine, However made up 1001 Nights and transform all this in "High" art. So, far, they are quite fine as "Low", because we need popular art as much we need elite art. But Rock and Roll? Only 50 years or so. Too sort time for a limited genre to compete with the multiple genre that have centuries like Classic music and was based on selecting the best artists possible. Takes time but happens. We probally already have among Movies some that could be called "sublime" and be up as our best masterpieces.

[Lykren]

Well for starters I wouldn't name Freddy Mercury or Paul McCartney as great representatives of rock. Two of the most famous rock musicians, to be sure, but that does not mean they are the best.

Fame is no proof for or against artistic merit. The fact that a great many critics of the genre place a high value upon a given performer/musician might be worthy of consideration in judging artistic merit.

Just because the famous pop musicians don't represent the height of the genre, don't let that make you draw conclusions about the essence of the genre as a whole.

Its always easy to suggest that there are these unknown geniuses within an art form/genre that only certain cognoscenti are aware of. Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart are probably the three most universally known names within the realm of classical music... and they are also the best.

Silly love songs? Punk expression? I like neither, but I like certain 'pop' musicians very much. There is a whole world of sophistication out there beyond Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson and all that crap.

Sophistication? I'm sorry but a great deal of the best Blues, Bluegrass, and Rock & Roll has nothing to do with sophistication: Muddy Waters, Elmore James, the Carter Family, the Louvin Brothers, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Dylan (musically if not in terms of lyrics), the Rolling Stones... Personally, I find a great deal of the efforts toward "sophistication" in Pop/Rock... "Progressive Rock... is painfully pretentious twaddle.

You just have to do a little exploring to find the good stuff, which has mostly been done for us with the Western classical composing tradition.

You are assuming that others haven't explored music as much or more than yourself.

I too dislike most progressive rock, such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, King Crimson, Explosions in the Sky, and so on. I referred to sophistication intending to indicate that what I regard as 'sophisticated' music is music which has the ability to evoke powerful and long-lasting emotions - no more or less. So this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

is what I call sophisticated. We can disagree on the exact way the word should be used, but I think you can see what I'm getting at.

You say, "Ultimately, the biggest difference between Classical Music and Popular Music is that Classical Music is Composer-Centered where Popular Music is Performer-Centered."

I agree with that, as indicated by my prior post. I also agree that fame is no indicator of ability. I will suggest that the absence of recording technology hindered the development of performance-based music, and that now that we have it, the cat, so to speak, is out of the bag. Musical artists who are more performance-based can now start to learn from those with a similar bent who came before them.

As for The Beatles, I've never believed (well, not since I was about eleven) that they were the pinnacle of what popular music had to offer. Perhaps they were the most talented band that was also commercially successful, but their commercial success is, as you know, irrelevant to this discussion. There are artists who retain control over all aspects of the compositional, performance, and engineering aspects of their albums.

You say "Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited may be a work of genius... but it wholly depends upon the original recording." But how is such a dependence an artistic flaw or weakness (if that is indeed what you are implying), now that we have recording technology to rely upon to preserve the performance?

Finally, stluke, I fully realize your knowledge of music in general far surpasses mine. I was merely noting that there has not been time to filter out the weaker elements of modern forms of popular music, as there has been time with classical compositions.

Did you listen to the links I posted earlier? They represent musical trends I have not seen you make mention of before. But if you were already aware of those albums, and intended to include them in your dismissal of progressive rock as mostly pretentious twaddle (a dismissal I, on the whole, agree with), say so.

[Emil Miller]

Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson and all that crap.

Agreed, but this is merely the tip of a huge commercial scam that has conveniently provided its own definition: namely 'pop music'.
Please keep the comments coming, they are highly amusing

[stlukesguild]

So this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

is what I call sophisticated. We can disagree on the exact way the word should be used, but I think you can see what I'm getting at.

I almost certainly wouldn't call Johnny Cash "sophisticated". Rather, I feel his music speaks of a raw emotional honesty. But then I'm not certain that what we should be speaking of is some spectrum of sophistication. Bach's fugues, Miles Davis' solos, and Frank Sinatra's vocal phrasing may be eminently sophisticated... but not without emotion. Stockhausen and many music-school educated contemporary "classical" composers are undeniably "sophisticated"... but often lack any passion, emotion, or grasp of artistic beauty. This, on the other hand, may be "unsophisticated":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l49N8U3d0Bw

but the energy... the passion... the spirituality is spellbinding.

You say, "Ultimately, the biggest difference between Classical Music and Popular Music is that Classical Music is Composer-Centered where Popular Music is Performer-Centered."

I suspect that this is also where music is undergoing the most profound change. You mention the use of electronic/recording technologies. I agree that such have had an increasing impact upon music. Indeed, I would suggest that in many ways the studio has become an "instrument" in and of itself... a collection of instruments... replacing the ensemble, the band, or the orchestra. When Beethoven composed a piano concerto or piano sonata, he preserved and transmitted his idea of what these works should sound like using the only means then possible: the written score. Of course his ideal would have been best experienced through his live performances which he would have conducted. Recording technology... especially as it reached the level of sophistication from the mid-1950s onward... essentially made it possible to sculpt a performance of a work of music that might be deemed the definitive presentation. There is no need for alternative performances of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, Duke Ellington's Money Jungle, Frank Sinatra's Only the Lonely, Elvis' Hound Dog or the Beatles' Norwegian Wood. They are the final word on what the given composer/performers envisioned. Any alternative performance of any merit will likely be quite removed (intentionally) from the original, and may be in all reality seen as a variation... or new work altogether. In other words, Johnny Cash' Hurt is not the same work of music as Nine Inch Nails' version.

The shift toward performance-based music has impacted "Classical Music" to just as great a degree. Many composers now release new compositions in recordings that they are intimately involved with. Philip Glass' Einstein on the Beach, Terry Riley's In C, Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians or Drumming, Osvaldo Golijov's Oceana, Peter Lieberson's Neruda Songs, Jake Heggie's Passing By and Songs of Lost Voices, David Lang's Little Match Girl Passion and Death Speaks, etc... were all "realized" as much or more so as definitive performances/recordings as they were as scores. The fact that "classical composers" now compose/create within the studio with all the same technologies as popular musicians employ, and the fact that most classical composers were raised... and still listen to popular music genre... has further added to the blurring of Classical and Popular music.

Ultimately... much to the chagrin of Emil... "Classical Music" is not a style or form of music. It is simply a catch-all phrase used to define the music of Western culture that was written down and survived. Much of it was the music of the aristocracy or the Church... but much was not. Classical music may include Byzantine and Gregorian Chant... but it also includes Sephardic Dance music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svy7sVPzTcE&list=RDZP_6Y7skqCY

... dance music for the bourgeois and the wealthy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOJJt-YQ8V0

... and opera? We might do well to remember that opera was not intended as some snobbish elitist art form... but rather as a musical theater that spoke to the larger audience... as least the growing bourgeois audience who had enough expendable income and free time to seek out such entertainment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7onnt2OvPY

... opera, oratorios, and symphonic works were created for a larger "popular" audience... especially in the larger cities. Paying audiences of a variety of classes in London, for example, might have witnessed Handel's Giulio Cesare and Messiah and Haydn's "London" Symphonies".

...songs written for intimate performances in the salons of Parisian music and art lovers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQcqbx7C_xM

... and the most "populist" of performances at the Paris Opera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Diu2N8TGKA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi6SDINpeTw

[Lykren]

Yes, basically I agree with everything you wrote in that post. The issue is how do we adapt to the vast number of new opportunities and challenges which come with modern technology. This adaptation is simply a process that will take time.

[Emil Miller]

[QUOTE=stlukesguild;1254257 Ultimately... much to the chagrin of Emil... "Classical Music" is not a style or form of music. It is simply a catch-all phrase used to define the music of Western culture that was written down and survived. [/QUOTE]

:lol:

Agreed.

[Emil Miller]

While the adult (?) population of the West sink beneath the waves of infantile and juvenile commercially generated trash of an all-too-liberal interpretation of musical values, the East is rapidly becoming the repository of the great music that once characterised Western civilisation.

http://youtu.be/lBVqYsFC5Ng

[stlukesguild]

Don't kid yourself, Emil; the East is rapidly devouring lessons learned from the West and is embracing the same popular culture... in film, TV, literature, art, and music as the West. The Chinese... as much as you idolize them... lag far behind the Japanese... or certainly in the visual arts. a vast majority of their work is horribly derivative... whether in an academic manner... or in a servile imitation of the latest trends in Western art.

http://www.artscenebeijing.com/beijing-art-gallery-images/1.jpg

http://www.artworldsalon.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/05-May/Yumin.jpg

http://www.contemporary-chinese-art.eu/images/stories/articles/contemporary-chinese-art-beginners/contemporary-chinese-art-for-beginners-11.jpg

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/131006032325-last-china-supper-story-top.jpg

http://www.artbusiness.com/1open/images/0213107.jpg

http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/03/18/1237423865_9356/300h.jpg

http://www.andrewjamesart.com/feng_zhengjie_print.jpg

The Japanese have moved beyond a period of what Robert Hughes termed the cultural cringe... and have developed their own voice that is at once rooted in their own tradition, yet draws upon Western art. This is true of classical music where there are a number of truly talented composers, Takemitsu being perhaps the best known.

Yet the East is not without their passion for Pop Music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqONe2s0lwU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsIvrmmYqaE

[stlukesguild]

...the East is rapidly becoming the repository of the great music that once characterised Western civilisation.

We can find such prodigies from every culture:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgj2amEyX54

Prodigies rarely matter... rarely develop into major adult virtuosi.

I know we've had this debate before, but again... you exaggerate the notion of an impending Asian dominance of Classical Music. Speaking on the very subject, Joshua Bell pointed out that 75 years ago there was this notion that the Jews were taking over Classical Music. Its as false now and it was then.

If I simply make a list of the leading Asian classical musicians I know of, the list is rather small:

Sarah Chang
Yo Yo Ma
Lang Lang
Kyung Hwa Chung
Sumi Jo
Midori
Seiji Ozawa
Masaaki Suzuki
Mitsuko Uchida
Alice Sara Ott
Yuja Wang

If I were to merely make a list of the finest living/active violinists the list would include:

Nicola Benedetti
Joshua Bell
Elizabeth Wallfisch
Andrew Manze
Gidon Kremer
John Holloway
Hilary Hahn
Chloë Hanslip
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Philippe Quint
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
Chiara Banchini
Fabio Biondi
Isabelle Faust
Rachel Podger
Patricia Kopatchinskaja
Itzhak Perlman
Lisa Batiashvili
Janine Jansen
Renaud Capuçon
Daniel Hope
Gil Shaham
Sarah Chang
Kyung Hwa Chung

Not really dominated by Asians.

But lets be a bit more methodical. Lets take the names of the pianists from the first three pages of Amazon.com (the biggest sellers) for the following works: J.S. Bach's Keyboard Concertos, W.A. Mozart's Piano Concertos, Beethoven's Piano Concertos, Chopin's Piano Concertos, Scriabin's Piano Works, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concertos, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos, Debussy's Piano Works, Prokofiev's Piano Concertos, and Ligeti's Piano Works. We'll ignore the dead or inactive performers. Even giving you a predominance of Romantic-Era composers the list doesn't seem overly laden with Asian performers:

Alfred Brendel
Murray Perahia
Krystian Zimerman
Evgeny Kissin
Helen Grimaud
Mitsuko Uchida
Leif Ove Andsnes
Mikhail Pletnev
Paul Crossley
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
Pascal Roge
Jean-Yves Thibaudet
Noriko Ogawa
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Claudio Arrau
Garrick Ohlsson
Martha Argerich
Lang Lang
Rafal Blechacz
Ingrid Fliter
Maria Joao Pires
Janina Fialkowska
Emmanuel Ax
Evgeny Kissin
Ivan Moravec
Ton Koopman
Daniel Barenboim
Leon Fleisher
Yuja Wang
Valentina Lisitsa
Denis Matsuev
Simon Trpceski
Mikhail Rudy
Jeremy Denk
Pierre-Laurent Aimard
Thomas Hell
Lucille Chung
Reinbert de Leeuw
Vladimir Fedoseyev
Rudolf Barshai
Denis Matsuev
Yevgeny Sudbin
Yuri Temirkanov
Victoria Postnikova
Steven Hough
Boris Berezovsky
Ivo Pogorelich
John Ogdon
Maria Lettberg
Olli Mustonen
Nikolai Demidenko
Alexander Melnikov
Xiayin Wang
Marc-Andre Hamelin
Daniil Trifonov
Stephen Coombs
Nikolai Lugansky
Horacio Gutierrez
Freddy Kempff
Yefim Bronfman
Yundi Li
Sa Chen
Olga Kern
Vassily Primakov
Andras Schiff
Peter Serkin
Miklos Spanyi
Angela Hewitt
Alexandre Tharaud
Anastasia Injushina
David Fray
Jean-Philippe Collard
Andreas Staier
Christophe Rousset
Simone Dinnerstein
Hélène Grimaud

If anything... there would seem to be a predominance of East European and Russian performers.

[Emil Miller]

Yes we have had this discussion before but there are certain things that need to be mentioned re your post.
It's common knowledge that few child prodigies go on to a professional career but it's no small feat for young children to play the masterworks of great European composers, of whom there are few, if any, existing today. Whereas, prodigies have usually been the exception in the West, in China with an estimated 40 million children learning the piano, let alone those learning the whole gamut of orchestral instruments, they are rapidly becoming the rule.

Most western performers on your list, of whom I have long held various recordings, have been playing for decades whereas orientals have but recently arrived on the scene. I suspect that it will look quite different in 10 years time even allowing for the changes in the production and dissemination of recorded music that are already taking place.

As for Chinese art, a major exhibition 'Chinese Painting 700-1900' has just closed in London: a provenance somewhat older than Andy Warhol's oeuvre.

Although I've had a long-standing relationship with Chinese people, I don't idolise them any more than various other orientals I've had dealings with but I'm not expecting a yellow peril attack on the West: well not yet anyway. :smilewinkgrin:

For the record, I'm going to see Yuja Wang playing Rachmaninov's 3rd piano concerto this evening.

[mortalterror]

The main difference is in how it's taught, how it's played, and how it's recorded. Pre-recording era popular works weren't written down and preserved to the same extent as classic music, and their songs weren't made canonical in the schools and performance halls. But if you give selections of Child's Ballads (the British musical version of the Brothers Grimm) to top level musicians today you can get performances out of them as good as many classical compositions from the same time periods. Andreas Scholl's collection of British folk ballads is good proof of that, especially his rendition of Three Ravens. Unfortunately, you rarely get classically trained musicians of that caliber to perform the old popular songs the way you can get them for classical. There are a few revivalists of the Celtic tradition like Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, the Chieftains, or Pentangle, but as often happens whenever you get a truly gifted performer they start wanting to write and perform their own original compositions and stop playing the standards (such as Steeleye Spans excellent song All Around My Hat).

I'll also throw a word in here for Robert Burns' songs. He took popular Scottish folk tunes that had lost their words and rewrote the lyrics to at least 300 of them, and some really hold up. Auld Lange Syn and Is There For Honest Poverty (check out the version by 5 Hand Reel) are pretty great listening. Anonymous compositions like the Sailor's Hornpipe live on as part of our culture and are pretty good when the London Philharmonic Orchestra plays them. Then there are the Neapolitan folk songs popularized by Caruso, Pavarotti, and other opera singers. A world class talent can really bring out the best in those "low class" simplistic melodies. Every nation has it's classics like Russia's Song of the Volga Boatmen. I'm sure I could list some Greek, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hungarian folk tunes if I weren't largely blocked by language barriers. StLuke will probably champion Ravi Shankar.

My impression of the folk tradition is that it is very rich and deep, and even less explored or understood by the common man than classical music. There are obvious reasons for this. I mean, I just learned that Japan has almost as large a popular music market as the United States, but I couldn't name any of their bands. I assume that there are vast frontiers of unexplored music in Asia which I am only beginning to appreciate. Just as I found writers the equal of Shakespeare in Sanskrit, Persian, and Greek, I expect to find musicians as good as the Beatles, Stones, and Zepplin in these new languages and in the past. The band Loudness is basically Japanese Van Halen (check out Heavy Chains). Some tracks of Happy End sound exactly like Japanese Beatles, but other tracks by the main guy in the band sound like Japanese Bob Dylan. Check out Happy End's song Natsu Nandesu. Les Rallizes Dénudés seems to be like Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, sort of experimental, lots of distortion around the guitar playing. Their song White Walking is pretty good. I also have to put in a word for Blues Creation's song Sorrow. It's good blues rock like America and Britain were playing in the late 60s. I haven't delved far into the older folk stuff, but their drums and flutes seem compelling.

Here's a list of older popular music I put together from the days before tape recording.
1549 Robert Wedderburn- Tam Lin (ballad) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy3ihk205ew
1580 Richard Jones- Greensleeves (ballad) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twix9KfES9Y
1599 John Farmer- Fair Phyllis (madrigal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eeVMEMxlkc
1602 William Shakespeare- Feste's Song (show tune) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhSfZplNbN0
1611 Thomas Ravencroft- The Three Ravens (ballad) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1JScWuKnI0
1719 Isaac Watts- Joy to the World (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5hj518Iugk
1740 James Thomson- Rule, Britannia! (anthem) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XPHL4Q86t4
1758 Richard Shuckburgh- Yankee Doodle (anthem) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwHvyqNDUvE
1770 Anonymous- The Sailor's Hornpipe (sea song) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_JeKZd9ecE
1779 John Newton- Amazing Grace (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYMLMj-SibU
1788 Robert Burns- Auld Lang Syne (folk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acxnmaVTlZA
1792 Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle- The Marseillaise (anthem) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIQSEq6tEVs
1796 Anonymous- Spanish Ladies (sea shanty) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZfYtCLA23s
1800s
1814 Francis Scott Key- The Star-Spangled Banner (anthem) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRvVzaQ6i8A
1839 Anonymous- Drunken Sailor (sea shanty) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGyPuey-1Jw
1841 Sarah Flower Adams- Nearer, My God, To Thee (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9UsDl5gSuo
1841 Anonymous- The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond (folk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uZ-p-tN8Gs
1847 Adolphe Adam- O Holy Night (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5n6X9sUznI
1847 Stephen Foster- Oh Susannah (minstrel) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYRmsbEQXEg
1850 Daniel Decatur Emmett- Dixie (minstrel) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5mRk5M5qT8
1850 John Durnal- Finnegan's Wake (ballad) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7yR-U4m_dw
1852 Frederick Oakeley- O Come All Ye Faithful (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcJYW1oN6fw
1855 William H. Cummings- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKRC5Ikq44s
1855 Joseph M. Scriven- What a Friend We Have in Jesus (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XRmGEbH0qs
1857 James Lord Pierpont- Jingle Bells (carol) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CBe74fAEEE
1858 Charles H. Brown- The Yellow Rose of Texas (folk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpHiURKkY0Q
1859 John Freeman Young- Silent Night (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPamW-WUf50
1862 Julia Ward Howe- Battle Hymn of the Republic (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLun-Ca6b6s
1862 George F. Root- Battle Cry of Freedom (folk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kWADI4umuM
1862 John Owen- Men of Harlech (march) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Gxd9zhsag
1862 Wallis Willis- Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSb273c9tm4
1863 Patrick Gilmore- When Johnny Comes Marching Home (folk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecIVIFLo0uE
1863 John Henry Hopkins, Jr.- We Three Kings (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx35_DRIZ8g
1866 Mily Balakirev- Song of the Volga Boatmen (shanty) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tw3g88JtWA
1868 Philips Brooks- O Little Town of Bethlehem (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19rL_8W3oRU
1870 Colm O Lochlainn- Whiskey in the Jar (folk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boanuwUMNNQ
1871 Eugene Pottier- The Internationale (anthem) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtAfIjRKUak
1873 Brewster M. Higley- Home on the Range (folk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_YK7ebcZ2o
1874 Jesus Gonzalez Rubio- Jarabe Tapatio (mariachi) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Rqdgna3Yw
1879 Gilbert and Sullivan- Major-General's Song (operetta) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1dy44jV8EM
1880 Luigi Denza- Funiculi, Funicula (Neapolitan) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaO1GrltxwM
1884 Percy Montrose- Oh My Darling, Clementine (ballad) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arL3QzNBc6A
1885 J.E. Clark- Away in a Manger (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbLLowNgSI
1885 Carl Gustav Boberg- How Great Thou Art (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL1vUY_qu-E
1889 Anonymous- Scarborough Fair(ballad) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYQaD2CAi9A
1889 Charles David Tillman- Old-Time Religion (gospel) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx0peec84FI
1891 Young E. Allison- Dead Man's Chest (sea shanty) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzcv5TJkJBA
1894 Anonymous- I've Been Working on the Railroad (folk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e9Q4WVUOvQ
1896 John Philip Sousa- Stars and Stripes Forever (march) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mRn9chmRAY

While none of it is as good as the greatest classical works of Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach, it's all better than their worst compositions and worth comparing to certain lower classical masters like Edward Elgar or Vaughan Williams. Think of all the bad classical music out there and then think of how many delightful popular tunes there are. Classical music isn't all Mozart or Bach.

[mortalterror]

Let's consider this era for era. Do you really prefer the works of Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Hindemith, Ives, Stockhausen, Varese, and Cage to:
1900s
1902 Scott Joplin- The Entertainer (ragtime) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPmruHc4S9Q
1903 Banjo Paterson- Waltzing Matilda (ballad) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58vujCL2dJI
1904 Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych- Carol of the Bells (carol) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TFrO8c_kVQ
1905 Civilla D. Martin- His Eye Is On the Sparrow (gospel) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P0Zc-oQb1Q
1908 Jack Norworth & Albert Von Tilzer- Take Me Out to the Ball Game (pop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4-gsdLSSQ0
1910 Katherine Lee Bates- America The Beautiful (patriotic) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRUjr8EVgBg
1912 Chauncey Olcott- When Irish Eyes Are Smiling (show tune) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgQCPifM-p8
1912 George Bennard- The Old Rugged Cross (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4CgF_pyxVY
1913 Frederick Weatherly- Danny Boy (ballad) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZrRhKVj5j0
1916 Sir Hubert Parry- Jerusalem Hymn (hymn) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKRHWT6xdEU
1916 Enrico Caruso- O Sole Mio (Neapolitan) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1QJwHWvgP8
20s
1925 Al Jolson- I'm Sitting On Top of the World (pop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVrJoA2O7E4
1927 Paul Robeson- Ol' Man River (show tune) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh9WayN7R-s
1928 Jimmie Rodgers- In the Jailhouse Now (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSq8mnDH_1o
1928 Harry McClintock- The Big Rock Candy Mountain (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYGCpGzFWh0
1928 Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill- Mack the Knife (show tune) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpkejsMOmWk
1929 Nick Lucas- Tip Toe Through the Tulips (pop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZMHJX4b9bU
1929 Joseito Fernandez- Guantanamera (latin) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm1anurhbeg
1929 Ethel Waters- Am I Blue? (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-XYFPtVNAk
30s
1930 Comedian Harmonists- Veronika (a capella) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRP1XAOM-nQ
1930 Blind Willlie Johnson- John the Revelator (blues gospel) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hucTDV1Fvo
1930 Mississippi Sheiks- Sitting on Top of the World (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3qXOW9Kd8Y
1931 Duke Ellington- It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got that Swing) (swing jazz) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDQpZT3GhDg
1931 Cab Calloway- Minnie the Moocher (jazz) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mq4UT4VnbE
1934 Cole Porter- Anything Goes (show tune) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aeQ3DmKU7A
1935 Carlos Gardel- Por una cabeza (tango) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kigoRVhyaf4
1935 Fred Astaire- Cheek to Cheek (show tune) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3RSlUkw9U0
1935 Artie Shaw- Begin the Beguine (jazz) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNcPnEc99UE
1936 Robert Johnson- Crossroad (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd60nI4sa9A
1937 Benny Goodman- Sing, Sing, Sing (swing) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhyhP_5VfKM
1937 The Andrews Sisters- Bei Mir Bist du Schoen (swing) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe2UXccid40
1937 Glenn Miller- In the Mood (big band) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJE-onnw2gM
1939 Judy Garland- Over the Rainbow (ballad) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XulvnXo6BJk
1939 Billie Holiday- Strange Fruit (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs
1939 Django Reinhart- In a Sentimental Mood (jazz) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_sshOaBqnM
40s
1940 The Ink Spots- Maybe (doo wop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1j1_baQwH8
1941 Bing Crosby- White Christmas (pop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJSUT8Inl14
1941 Lena Horne- Stormy Weather (jazz vocal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCG3kJtQBKo
1941 Lil Green- Why Don't You Do Right (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oavQY5V0xpg
1942 Vera Lynn- We'll Meet Again (jazz vocal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHcunREYzNY
1944 Leadbelly- Where Did You Sleep Last Night? (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6yCEsDsGx4
1944 The Mills Brothers- Till Then (pop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPdidRreduM
1944 Woody Guthrie- This Land is Your Land (folk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxiMrvDbq3s
1945 Tino Rossi- Besame Mucho (chanson) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZSADBhXBm4
1946 Edith Piaf- La Vie en Rose (pop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ32WWXHyjg
1946 Louis Jordan- Choo Choo Ch'Boogie (jump blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A2pRVyBmOY
1946 Bill Monroe- Blue Moon of Kentucky (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffhqOy_A8KM
1948 John Lee Hooker- Boogie Chillen (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM3PuXDpKiA
50s
1951 Elmore James- Dust My Broom (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKo80b-QfK0
1952 Hank Williams- Your Cheatin' Heart (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtGM6WBcsX0
1952 Little Walter- Juke (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiGpv-UeiDI
1955 Muddy Waters- Mannish Boy (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8LesTvNuaw
1955 Bo Diddley- Bo Diddley (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKYSAfbOCPc
1955 The Platters- Only You (doo wop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZs-e_x0PGM
1955 Eddy Arnold- Cattle Call (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID1_15EK-Ck
1955 Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joo90ZWrUkU
1955 Little Richard- Tutti Frutty (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F13JNjpNW6c
1957 Buddy Holly- Peggy Sue (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6nNRJkh_UQ
1957 Jerry Louis- Great Balls of Fire (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt0mg8Z09SY
1957 Elvis Presley- Jailhouse Rock (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj0Rz-uP4Mk
1958 Ella Fitzgerald- Blue Skies (vocal jazz) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB-xqDZbEVQ
1958 Chuck Berry- Johnny B. Goode (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8JULmUlGDA
1959 Marty Robbins- El Paso (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIHRgisdbeY
1959 The Staple Singers- I'm Coming Home (gospel) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rekp7rRcSFs
60s
1960 Howlin' Wolf- Spoonful (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0aIjyX7vwI
1960 Etta James- At Last (soul) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q2rZb7E0EY
1961 Patsy Cline- Crazy (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QEDb3xzdec
1961 Ray Charles- Hit the Road Jack (R&B) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKvhxapM5zo
1962 Gene Chandler- Duke of Earl (doo wop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2gvaDTpKMk
1963 The Kingsmen- Louie Louie (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RZJ4ESU52U
1963 Johnny Cash- Ring of Fire (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIBTg7q9oNc
1963 The Four Seasons- Walk Like a Man (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C1jj6I0eJA
1964 Jacques Brel- Amsterdam (chanson) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2kkr0e_dTQ
1964 The Animals- House of the Rising Sun (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwAw9ThDQmk
1965 Sam Cooke- Chain Gang (R&B) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmZdvVnMXCc
1965 Bob Dylan- Like a Rolling Stone (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk3mAX5xdxo
1965 Wilson Pickett- Mustang Sally (R&B) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfuHgzu1Cjg
1965 The Yardbirds- For Your Love (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU5zqidlxMQ
1966 Cannonball Adderly- Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (jazz) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUMBOoZywEI
1967 Aretha Franklin- Respect (R&B) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FOUqQt3Kg0
1967 The Velvet Underground- I'm Waiting For The Man (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOmZimH00oo
1967 Otis Redding- Sitting on the Dock of the Bay (R&B) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCmUhYSr-e4
1967 Albert King- Born Under a Bad Sign (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Py37G9qsfY
1967 The Doors- Break on Through (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJQwnAhXnBk
1968 The Beatles- Hey Jude (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCazMqCJVMc
1968 Steppenwolf- Born to Be Wild (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UWRypqz5-o
1968 Louis Armstrong- What a Wonderful World (pop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2VCwBzGdPM
1968 Jimi Hendrix- All Along the Watchtower (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLV4_xaYynY
1968 Tammy Wynnettte- Stand By Your Man (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwBirf4BWew
1968 Taj Mahal- Leaving Trunk (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gBqwWOWKLE
1969 Frank Sinatra- My Way (pop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egY8rUpxqcE
1969 Crosby, Stills, and Nash- Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDEiLImUUM8
1969 David Bowie- Space Oddity (psychedelic rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhSYbRiYwTY
1969 The Band- The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREUrbGGrgM
1969 Credence Clearwater Revival- Bad Moon Rising (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BmEGm-mraE
70s
1970 George Harrison- My Sweet Lord (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kNGnIKUdMI
1970 B.B. King- The Thrill is Gone (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fk2prKnYnI
1970 Black Sabbath- Iron Man (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZJPYo-YUkA
1970 Eric Clapton- Layla (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WUdlaLWSVM
1970 Conway Twitty- Hello Darlin' (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og1QRtcWdEY
1971 John Lennon- Imagine (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCX3ZNDZAwY
1971 Janis Joplin- Me and Bobby McGee (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXV_QjenbDw
1971 Marvin Gaye- What's Going On? (soul) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f39Zs0gB87c
1971 Jethro Tull- Aqualung (prog rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1xY7Heaqg8
1971 Led Zepplin- Stairway to Heaven (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9TGj2jrJk8
1971 The Who- Baba O'Riley (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2KRpRMSu4g
1972 Neil Young- Heart of Gold (country rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fXaC07X5M8
1973 Bob Marley- I Shot the Sheriff (reggae) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XiYUYcpsT4
1973 The Rolling Stones-Angie (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXRExocnpUw
1973 John Denver- Rocky Mountain High (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwARpaKHx_w
1973 Deep Purple- Smoke on the Water (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUwEIt9ez7M
1973 Aerosmith- Dream On (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAglUR-KXfQ
1973 Alice Cooper- No More Mr Nice Guy (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0YrXjeRSoE
1973 Pink Floyd- Eclipse (progressive rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El2l__hRta0
1973 Lynryd Skynyrd- Free bird (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np0solnL1XY
1975 Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ
1975 Frank Zappa- Muffin Man (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jh6wnmRbvQ
1976 KISS- Detroit Rock City (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZq3i94mSsQ
1976 Sex Pistols- Anarchy in the UK (punk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbmWs6Jf5dc
1976 Gordon Lightfoot- The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (folk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST6hVRj2A
1977 Van Halen- Eruption (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULEBSxP725w
1977 Kansas- Dust in the Wind (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH2w6Oxx0kQ
1977 The Eagles- Hotel California (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUbTW928sMU
1977 Fear- I Love Living in the City (punk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQM00K24qG8
1979 Sugarhill Gang- Rapper's Delight (hip hop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKTUAESacQM
1979 The Dead Kennedys- California Uber Alles (punk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW8UlY8eXCk
80s
1980 Ozzy Osbourne- Crazy Train (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MLp7YNTznE
1980 George Jones- He Stopped Loving Her Today (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VExw77xJsBQ
1981 Rush- Tom Sawyer (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7DFsBcVMDA
1982 The Clash- Straight to Hell (punk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQwm1v1R-qM
1982 Iron Maiden- Run to the Hills (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDd-GXkMrJs
1982 George Thorogood- Bad to the Bone (blues rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9FyQNx8oyU
1983 Dio- Holy Diver (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4W0AiPXFWg
1984 Saxon- Crusader (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJFQLA3XFJA
1984 Michael Jackson- Thriller (pop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG6oy46qKE4
1984 Run DMC- Rock Box (hip hop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GND7sPNwWko
1984 Bruce Springsteen- Born in the USA (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZD4ezDbbu4
1985 Billy Bragg- The World Turned Upside Down (punk folk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKLbj6oMiaI
1985 Anthrax- Madhouse (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2DdFvJezyE
1985 The Highwaymen- Highwayman (country) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw1bHaUk1CM
1986 Megadeth- Peace Sells (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD6gKjtpkFM
1987 Guns N Roses- Sweet Child o' Mine (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzAGZT_XTAk
1988 Poison- Every Rose Has It's Thorn (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2r2nDhTzO4
1988 Jane's Addiction- Jane Says (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh-5FI21s6M
1988 Danzig- Mother (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgSn0SbQJQI
1989 Public Enemy- Fight the Power (hip hop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PaoLy7PHwk
1989 Pixies- Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf) (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvHJOus1pRo
90s
1990 Scorpions- Wind of Change (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KcRl1p2waM
1990 Pantera- Cemetery Gates (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OYw7FPB7CE
1990 AC/DC- Thunderstruck (hard rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYFdldfYEJk
1991 LL Cool J- Mama Said Knock You Out (hip hop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vimZj8HW0Kg
1991 Pearl Jam- Black (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs-XZ_dN4Hc
1991 Metallica- Enter Sandman (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY3LAFJbKyY
1991 Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit ( grunge rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg
1992 2pac- Changes (hip hop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay9BWM8lwOA
1992 Kyuss- Thong Song (desert rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RPtqzE1Bi8
1992 Dr. Dre- Nuthin' But a G Thang (hip hop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhr5UBZh1rY
1993 Alice in Chains- Rooster (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0FAosDi4XA
1993 Smashing Pumpkins- Today (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAZn_dxI9nA
1994 Nine Inch Nails- Closer (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eROTYeIyJg
1995 Monster Magnet- Negasonic Teenage Warhead (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKj5cJ9_KSg
1997 Green Day- Good Riddance(Time of Your Life) (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bTdLi0YUVM
1997 Rammstein- Engel (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzBb6WfMEPY
1997 Notorious B.I.G.- Mo Money Mo Problems (hip hop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUhRKVIjJtw
1997 Radiohead- Karma Police (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBH97ma9YiI
1998 Fatboy Slim- Renegade Master (techno) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJMUkLTBXEk
1998 Blind Guardian- Mirror Mirror (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AfNOKQdY-U
1999 The Offspring- The Kids Aren't Alright (punk rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKEiUURUVR8
00s
2000 Rage Against the Machine- Renegades of Funk (rap rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rDe7LpHsuU
2000 Eminem- Stan (hip hop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snHfdV3gw9Q
2001 Daft Punk- Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (techno) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAjR4_CbPpQ
2003 Queens of the Stone Age- Go With the Flow (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw1Fm61HBA8
2003 The White Stripes- Seven Nation Army (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9ANOzmSKQg
2004 JayZ- Dirt Off Your Shoulder (hip hop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nlOeqEIHXY
2004 Kanye West- Jesus Walks (hip hop) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmHp3ZTAbH4
2005 Judas Priest- Judas Rising (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jazmdoxlpY
2005 Foo Fighters- The Best of You (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYVHxM-IXEE
2006 Wolfmother- The Joker and the Thief in the Night (metal) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je84VupqD58
10s
2010 The Black Keys- Tighten Up (rock) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L95iKBiZUEs
2011 Adele- Rolling in the Deep (soul) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqjGEb4QtYg
2011 Seasick Steve- You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks (blues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-vSZFEWHlo

[stlukesguild]

The main difference is in how it's taught, how it's played, and how it's recorded. Pre-recording era popular works weren't written down and preserved to the same extent as classic music, and their songs weren't made canonical in the schools and performance halls. But if you give selections of Child's Ballads (the British musical version of the Brothers Grimm) to top level musicians today you can get performances out of them as good as many classical compositions from the same time periods. Andreas Scholl's collection of British folk ballads is good proof of that, especially his rendition of Three Ravens.

We might do well to remember that while certain old folk songs may sound great performed by modern performers...

Greensleeves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twix9KfES9Y

Molly Ban: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOpY0wQdJ5w

... what we are hearing are modern arrangements. The orchestration, instrumentation, and even vocal arrangements are likely far removed from the original folk song. We might think of the original folk song as being somewhat akin to the far simpler legends or folk tales that formed the basis of many of Shakespeare's plays, Goethe's Faust, or even Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Unfortunately, you rarely get classically trained musicians of that caliber to perform the old popular songs the way you can get them for classical.

You do have Jordi Savall, Trio Mediaeval, Sequentia, the Anonymous Four, and a good number of other groups who specialize in "Early Music" (Renaissance and Medieval). I suspect it is more difficult to find good recordings of more recent "folk music" 17th-19th centuries.

I'll also throw a word in here for Robert Burns' songs. He took popular Scottish folk tunes that had lost their words and rewrote the lyrics to at least 300 of them, and some really hold up.

Don't forget Thomas Campion and John Dowland...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1RS1i5wy2Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55jnH3rqcoU

... who straddle the line between folk/popular music and classical.

Let's consider this era for era. Do you really prefer the works of Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Hindemith, Ives, Stockhausen, Varese, and Cage...

Well... let's be fair here. You are putting difficult avant-garde works up against populist tunes that are far more immediately accessible. You might just as well ask "Which do you prefer, T.S. Eliot, William Faulkner, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Mallarme, Cesar Vallejo... or Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Batman comics, and the Simpsons TV series?" More difficult or challenging work will always have a smaller audience. Let's face it, Shakespeare, Dante, Tolstoy, Bach, Mozart, etc... have a much smaller audience than exist for populist art. You know as well as anyone that popularity is no measure of artistic merit... for or against. We all must decide where we draw the line as to whether the effort is worth the pleasure we are likely to gain. Quite honestly I don't feel that I am afforded enough pleasure to invest more effort into most of the more experimental works of Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Ives, Stockhausen, Cage, Xenakis, and family. Having said that, I find almost all of the above named produced some truly marvelous works that I do quite enjoy:

Alban Berg's Vier Lieder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mtXaHRDXL0
Arnold Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7a36rTZdX8
Anton Webern's Six Pieces for Orchestra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0jCDxWvufw
Paul Hindemith's Sonata for Piano and Clarinet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVapReTXUtc
Charles Ives' The Unanswered Question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbArUJBRRJ0
Edgar Varèse' Amériques: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz87TReEtbY

and yes... even John Cage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExUosomc8Uc

You are also stacking the deck quite in favor of pop music by suggesting that the classical music of this era was dominated by the more experimental works and composers. We also have:

Mahler- The Adagietto from Symphony 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Les39aIKbzE
Giacomo Puccini - O mio babbino caro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu5TkdcZA-M
Richard Strauss - Also sprach Zarathustra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFPwm0e_K98
Richard Strauss- Four Last Songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs0vSC9DUhU
Rachmaninoff- Piano Concerto no. 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEGOihjqO9w
Gabriel Faure- Requiem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmrQHRnT4Mw
Claude Debussy- Rhapsody for Saxophone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GcDP2Wzc7E
Maurice Ravel- Piano Concerto in G: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClBm8vJPfKc
Erik Satie- Gymnopédie no. 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3f34Ju5LnM
Prokofiev- The Montagues and Capulets from Romeo and Juliet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGnuVerNLSA
Prokofiev- Lieutenant Kijé: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QsRDpsItq0
Stravinsky- The Rite of Spring: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWotpIy0uTg
Carl Orff- Carmina Burana: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdIpoE2LEps
Holst- The Planets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGGlL1wexQk
Shostakovitch- Cello Sonata: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTdLLfH7UAE
Poulenc- Melancholie- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG_pMHOF8ME
Charles Koechlin- Trio for Flute, Clarinet, and Bassoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAWXRcUbUok
Gabriel Pierné - Sonata for Flute and Piano: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM5Xvw3NqN0
Darius Milhaud- Sonata for oboe, flute, clarinet & pianoforte: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhQJ4_8rQlo
George Gershwin- Rhapsody in Blue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFHdRkeEnpM
Aaron Copland- Hoedown from Rodeo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsReWx9XdNs
Aaron Copland- Simple Gifts from Appalachian Spring: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI6RYZygevA
Samuel Barber- Adagio for Strings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQsgE0L450
Virgil Thomson- Acadian Songs and Dances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THDLkcm54F4
Ralph Vaughan-Williams- The Lark Ascending: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLhpkvQLDt0
Frederick Delius- The Walk to the Paradise Garden: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuDh36azgnU
Camille Saint-Saëns: "Rêverie": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0HfV1TWkPs
Massenet- Cendrillon "Reste au foyer petit grillon": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyH2Dnpst9A
Erich Korngold- Mariette's Song from The Dead City: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoGQd1dsAlw
Karol Szymanowski - Violin Concerto No. 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFP85o5Q-g8
Béla Bartók - Concerto For Orchestra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C68SkzGb6Ww
Sergei Taneyev- Piano Quintet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya_L6OQ-I7o
Paul Dukas - L'Apprenti Sorcier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNaNDXyXRFo
Saint-Saëns- Danse Macabre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0glOYQBlSA
Sibelius- Symphony no. 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHHfvdAqvn8
Scriabin- Le Poème de l'Extase: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWINpXNd5KE
Reinhold Glière- The Red Poppy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75DVzjHw7zs
Fritz Kreisler- "Liebeslied": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jniNETA36Us
Respighi- The Pines of Rome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFkqyxy6oUw
Georges Enescu- Romanian Rhapsody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKI_TxqivLg
Miaskovsky- Cello Concerto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQJ8NF_--SE
Zoltan Kodály- Cello Sonata: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MEUIGjfHNw
Arnold Bax- Tintagel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixF5f2cqIKo
Jacques Ibert- Divertissement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqx9963gp8k
Roy Harris- Symphony no. 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyI_XmJnvO4
Silvestre Revueltas- La Coronela: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMPpkLM9dpk
Astor Piazzola-Libertango: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic4PQ-tnwJw
Rodrigo- Concierto de Aranjuez: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Xdlgii-Rc
Durufle- Requiem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TneUTtCAJlE
Dutilleux- Sonatine for flute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUo2lcpeFrQ
Alberto Ginastera- Danzas Argentinas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuDpIYIcrgw
Ligeti- Lux Aeterna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnuAaKiX1sg
Carlisle Floyd- Ain't it a Pretty Night/Susannah: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl_Hs4PNT-c
Einojuhani Rautavaara - Cantus Arcticus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS9bOm3XHLE
Arvo Pärt- Mirror in the Mirror: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dweiGyjxhHs
Steve Reich- Music for 18 Musicians: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_jwv2QMtAo
Philip Glass- Music from the Soundtrack to "The Hours": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkof3nPK--Y
Philip Glass- The Kiss: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcmsoYLjVXk
Philip Glass- It was Always You, Helen/Candyman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jjLMm7C2EY
Ned Rorem- Early in the Morning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtAh3hEBPnk
Valentin Silvestrov- Silent Songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se0GW7ONThQ
Daniel Catan- Rappaccni's Daugther: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh8EbXQx5A0
Takashi Yoshimatsu- Modern Marvels Symphony: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcLCXI16Cg4
Toru Takemitsu- Rain Spell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sbhPvtW0vM
Joseph Schwantner- Velocities: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLTm5OAsZ5g
Osvaldo Golijov- Lúa Descolorida: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gcTd_YoXkE

[JCamilo]

I would not say all popular = easier for broader audience (Shakespeare and Cervantes are quite popular) and some Popular stuff (specially original myth registers, Bible, etc go with this area). It is about language I think and the public for whom guys in the classic music lists where "writting" even when they use popuar references. 1001 nights come this way, the "dressing" of the collection of tales make it complicated even if we, after putting apart, find something extremelly popullar.

Popular music when reduced to the american, when we have rock and roll, is basically a road to commerical adaptation from genres that were "marginal". Hence the appeal of lyrics, which seems similar to the lasting appeal of lyrical poetry over narratie poetry when the novels-romance took over.

[Emil Miller]

Let's consider this era for era.

Well I was most disappointed that this wasn't included in the list.


http://youtu.be/VhBdxUq6j28