Why Is American Classical Music So White?

I want to push back a little on this article because there are several famous African Americans who excelled in classical music, including:

Marian Anderson

Paul Robeson

Leontyne Price

Jessye Norman

Willard White

Grace Bumbry

DL Fav Kathleen Battle

It's also very Asian. Do you have any ideas, OP?

R2 Yes, Seiji Ozawa, Yo Yo Ma, Kyung Wha Chung, Lang Lang, Midori, Seong-Jin Cho, and Mitsuko Uchida came up too

Thoughts?

My thoughts are that OP is a race-baiting troll.

[quote] I found an interesting NPR article from 2019

There’s your problem. That was when “white people = evil” sentiment was reaching its zenith.

In a post-woke world, it wouldn’t fly.

I don't know, maybe because classical music originated in the western world, which is mostly made up of white people?

R6 Then why are so many Asians involved with classical music?

Condi Rice playing Dvorak at the Aspen Music Festival

Ehud Barak on Chopin

Because they value "elite" European/western culture and the ideal of tradition, r7. Moreover, becoming a classical musician involves a lot of hard work, which is another value Asians follow. There is perhaps also an element of aspiration involved as well, the idea of societies that are becoming increasingly wealthy and upwardly mobile and they perceive classical music as being associated with "bourgeoise" values.

[quote] My thoughts are that OP is a race-baiting troll.

That’s a knee-jerk reaction indicating that you didn’t read the NPR article.

Why is traditional African music so black?

About a week ago I went to a performance of modern choral music. We suffered through some Charles Ives pieces and were rewarded with some knockout arrangements of three spirituals. That’s the whole story. American classical composers didn’t follow Dvorak’s advice; they refused to look to America’s own music and instead produced dry, dowdy imitations of European music. As the article points out, great European composers such as Dvorak and Ravel told them they were making a mistake but they didn’t listen. There was that, plus most Black musicians didn’t have access to formal music training. The serious talent went into jazz.

Ya gotta start young. A lot of black kids dobt get expisex to music education when they Re little, and the older kids will get made fun of. They have to be beyobd gifted like all classical musicians who eant to learn abd excel, and they beed parental support.

Nelson Mandela loved classical music, too

William Grant Still's Afro-American Symphony

It's much less white than you think it is, and if you listen to classical radio these days especially they have been playing quite a lot of African-American and Hispanic/Latino composers. The early twentieth -century composer Florence Price is becoming more and more a mainstay in classical music programming, and on own my favorite station ( allclassical.org ) they regularly program in music also by such other Black composers as Scott Joplin, Margaret Bonds, Duke Ellington, etc. as well as Latin American composers like Heiter Villa-Lobos, Astor Piazzola, Chiquina Gonzaga, etc.

[quote]That’s a knee-jerk reaction indicating that you didn’t read the NPR article.

OP would have no reason to post that six-year-old article here unless he was trying to troll, r11.

He occasionally gets played on our local classical station. My vote for the under appreciated Scott Joplin .

This is like asking “why is American rap music so black?”

The classical music of America is Jazz. Thank you for your attention.

No one is in the mood for your racist garbage today, MAGAtt.

Take your sick, shit-stirring ass to "Ignore."

[quote] Nelson Mandela loved classical music, too

He's my favorite American!

The entire world went nuts when Louis Moreau Gottschalk introduced Black and Creole themes into his music!

More Gottschalk:

Souvenir of Puerto Rico and a little about LMG

Here’s a Two Fer: Florence Price, a BLACK WOMAN

Troubled Waters by Margaret Bonds, based on the spiritual Wade in the Water

Even the notoriously racist John Powell from Virginia cashed-in on African American musical themes. Rhapsodie Negre was the most popular piece of American music for piano and orchestra before Rhapsody in Blue came along, which ironically was based on a style of music developed by Blacks.

Why is American classical musical so white? I don’t know. This is a question for non-whites. Ask them why they don’t find classical music appealing.

The Blues are SO whitebread

Oh, do go away, OP.

These type of conversations are cringe. Why is reggae so black?? And side note, as someone earlier in this thread said--- a lot of east asians are into classical music.

OP is a pedestrian ass cunt.

[quote]About a week ago I went to a performance of modern choral music. We suffered through some Charles Ives pieces and were rewarded with some knockout arrangements of three spirituals.

R13, if you think Ives is insufferable then why did you go to a concert of his music? Love your suggestion that Ives should have composed music based on "negro" spirituals.

R35, there were many other pieces on the program. I wasn’t suggesting anything specifically about Ives; he did what he wanted to do. However, while he may be thought of as a major American composer, at least to me, his work is not at the level of his European contemporaries.

Why is American Classical Music So Jewish?

That's not cool to ask any more.

It's weird to me that you'd make this claim given the number of Asians in classical music. Weirder still to single out "American classical music" when American orchestras often have more Asians and are often more diverse than orchestras in Europe.

As usual with the racially obsessed, it seems what "so white" means is, "Why so few blacks?" That answer is part money, part culture. In order to become part of the professional classical world, talent is not enough. It takes over a decade of practice for even the gifted to reach a decent level. This practice needs to be guided by teachers that know what they're doing. One needs to participate in orchestras, choirs, etc. in addition to solo lessons. All this costs money and takes considerable time out of the day. Basically, you need to be able to afford the lessons, but beyond that, you also have to have family members that understand the benefit of working on something that won't pay off for ten or more years.