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The headline for this piece in today's print edition is, "Trading Pops Classics for Pop Culture," and it contains references to film/orchestra concerts, but that's not the only reason for posting it. The information herein and the issues it raises, I think, have implicit relevance for the evolving culture in which film music is being created. And it definitely should have relevance for those of us whose love of music is not limited to soundtracks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/arts/music/whats-lost-when-pops-orchestras-tap-pop-culture.html?_r=0
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Jeepers, Smaug, you sound so angry, or is it just me? I thought one of the points of the article was that a lot of orchestras HAVE been starting to play those kinds of music you designate as what "people want to hear." I'm also a little confused about your animosity toward the term "Pops," when several of the genres you mention, such as ballet, opera, and yes, film music, have always been included at Pops concerts. You might say people like Arthur Fiedler were pioneers in that they were playing -- and recording -- a lot of film music long before most of the the major philharmonic orchestras started taking it up. Why do you think the Boston Pops, when Fiedler passed away, turned to John Williams to be his replacement?
As to "who cares?", well, a lot of people care about a lot of different kinds of music. Nobody loves film music in the concert hall, or would like to hear more of it there, than I do, but I also love a lot of things like "The Muldau" and "Peer Gynt" for the same reason I like film music. And I dare say many of the best film composers in Hollywood history, specially those trained in the classical tradition, also appreciated the pieces labeled "light music" or "Pops" pieces. There's room enough for everybody. After all, as Duke Ellington said, "There's only two kinds of music -- the good kind, and the other kind."
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PS: As I said in my original post, I think this piece has some bearing on film music itself, not just on music in the concert hall. Just as there are many genres of music, both old and new, heard in concerts these days, the number of kinds of music being created for films keeps expanding all the time.
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In a better world, John, your very pertinent post could and should have been a letter-to-the-editor in response to the article, but for some unknown reason the Times' Sunday Arts & Leisure section stopped running its Letters column years ago, more's the pity.
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