Racism and Reckoning in Classical Music
An Inquiry
The business of classical music has been receding for some time. The Metropolitan Opera, the nation’s largest performing arts organization, has faced financial challenges for years. Large unfunded pension obligations, a disappearing donor class, lackluster ticket sales, and shutting down entirely during the COVID pandemic are all issues replicated in scale for arts organizations around the country. The music itself remains a celebration of the Human Spirit. How have we allowed a mix of creative alchemy, science, and raw emotion to wane?
A terrible mindset plagues the beleaguered industry. If you search “Classical Music is Racist,” you find links from top tier, legitimate news organizations like the New Yorker in 2020 (Black Scholars Confront White Supremacy in Classical Music), NPR in 2019 (Why is American Classical Music So White?), the New York Times in 2021 (Asians Are Represented in Classical Music. But Are They Seen?), the Washington Post in 2020 (Classical Music is Finally Reckoning with Racism), and more I have not listed. The conclusion is foregone. There is not a single contrary opinion in the top search results.
The mentality bleeds into the related field of Musicology. If, as the New York Times questions, the entire field is racist, there is no need to study classic composers and historical performances. The departments in turn are shut down, as is the case here and here.
The entire industry is thusly paralyzed. If it keeps the canon of the great composers, it confirms its bigotry. If it tosses it, there are no replacements, and the path forward is unknown.
Let’s deconstruct a fairly straightforward example of the problem. We’ll pick on Richard Wagner.
Richard Wagner was a German composer born in 1813 and died in 1883. Quite the character, his life consisted of political exile, poverty, and repeated flight from his lovers and creditors. The Ride of the Valkyries was his life.
Wagner’s largest problem today: he was Hitler’s favorite composer. He wrote a treatise in 1850 titled “On Jewishness in Music” and was stridently anti-Semitic. Hitler and the Nazis appropriated the music to glorify the Third Reich.
His music also popularized leitmotifs. If you see an image of Darth Vader, and you can hear the Imperial March, whether music is playing or not, you know what a leitmotif is. Many canonical modern movies such as Star Wars, E.T., and The Lord of the Rings use leitmotifs to introduce characters or recurring themes.
If we are to appreciate Wagner’s music we must come to terms with his personal problems, the propaganda functions of his music, and also his astounding contributions. A composer composes despite his personal life. A German is German despite the cruelty of the Nazi state. A Russian is Russian despite the grimness of the Soviet state. Culture ascends history.
We can choose to look on the dim periods of history with regret and despondency, or we can allow ourselves to see greatness where it exists. We are allowed to respect the accomplishments of men we may not like. Shostakovich should not be discarded because he was a Soviet; Wagner because of bad ideas. We must remember that the fate of the plurality of composers is to be forgotten, and only a celebrated few rose above the enduring obsolescence.
The same is true of the field of musicology. We can choose to abandon it. We can choose to ignore the lessons in harmony and counterpoint recorded by composers like Rimsky-Korsakov and Fux. The science of music advanced by objectivity and reason.
We may choose to break from tradition and start anew. We may rightly castigate the opinions of our ancestors. We may dispose of what we choose, but we must ask the question: Replace it with what?
Do we really want to replace Dvorak with dripping water in a water concerto? Simply because of the race of the composers? This is the conundrum that embroils many classical music institutions.
The COVID Pandemic did not ameliorate the situation. Financially, the shutdowns were devastating. The choice to harshly impose masking and vaccine guidelines discouraged much of the audience.
Today, programs that sell tickets are often related to Pop Culture. A popular movie is played on a screen, and the orchestra plays the music throughout. These programs are quite popular, and while they are fun, it is not what the musicians and conductors dedicated their lives to. Neither does it attract new donors interested in the flourishing human spirit.
The situation is further compounded by the inability of the institutions to self-correct. Any dissenting voice is quickly cancelled; their career and livelihood stolen; replaced by the throng of others happy to take their coveted spot. Anna Netrebko was fired for not dishonoring her heritage. One orchestra exempted their manager but fired their musicians. A conductor was forced to resign over a private medical matter. A clarinetist was fired for insisting on merit-based hiring. Paid for not working during much of the pandemic, one orchestra voted to authorize a strike. None of this has anything to do with producing high quality music. Is any of it rewarding and uplifting to read?
Carl Jung has a chapter in his book Man and His Symbols, where he discusses the symbols in modern art. The main theme of the chapter is that art is always a reflection of culture. The chaotic forms in much of modern art arose after the chaos of World War I. The art reflecting the chaotic war’s impact on mankind’s collective psyche. Are we seeing this now?
We certainly are observing orchestras grapple with the consequences of these independent cultural threads. If the situation is to be corrected, we must view their responses as through a lens. We must question ourselves objectively and be ready for any answer, particularly ones we won’t like.
Is the individual musician connected to his passion? Is the orchestral section connected to the group? The group connected to the conductor? The entire orchestra to the audience? The audience to the symphony’s story?
Do we see tickled hearts? Passion? Miracles? Joy? Authenticity?
Or do we see something else?