It is really the era of online media, which is already well-known in the world pop music scene, thus laying the foundation for the unassuming status of the African American singer Mike. Jackson, who died suddenly due to illness last week, was covered with relevant information reports, like a terrifying wave of thunder! Thousands of online posts, fans moved, even the president of the United States sent words of condolence, Congress collective mourning! The official and non-governmental media of various countries have been commented on... I think that when the famous Italian tenor Pavarotti died, he never enjoyed such a mourning!
If Pavarotti represents Western classical music, Jackson is in charge of the Western pop music scene, only from the repercussions of the two people, it can also reflect the difference between popular music and classical music, and its status and influence in society and the public's hearts are very different! Pavarotti, the world's three tenors, can not be said to be without extraordinary charm, seductive aura, and his unique talent in that field, but its influence is still a huge difference compared with Jackson, who has sold more than 100 million solo albums worldwide and created many Guinness First Myths.
Why is there such a big difference? Perhaps classical music is high and harmonious, and popular music, from content to form, is closer to the secular masses and the trend of the times, and is more likely to be appreciated and respected by most people, so although they are the same singers, their conquest effect on the public is very different. Each as a musical form, a representative of the genre, their huge disparity in the number of audiences, seems to have decided everything!
I often tell students, especially those who have just entered the Tao to learn violin, that the violin basically belongs to the category of Western classical music, such as Bach for more than three hundred years. Mozart. Haydn. Beethoven until Brahms. Tchaikovsky's musical heritage, and there are strict and standardized learning methods, I emphasize this point, is to require students from the day they hold the violin bow, they must have enough psychological preparation, to resist the temptation, to endure loneliness, that may be a kind of spring snow, high and widowed, no one applauds, but also have to endure the loneliness of years and months of boring and hard practice!
Despite this, countless people still love classical music and are attracted by the elegance and depth of classical music, noble and romantic. Like violin lovers are particularly fond of, the Last Century German composer Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, the melody is beautiful, the emotions are ups and downs, soothing and rushing, low and exciting, touching, soul-stirring!
The reason why popular music is easy to become popular is indeed because its entertainment components are richer, and its form is easier for the public to understand, understand, imitate, and master, so it is familiar and loved by the public, and it is more lively and easier to spread. Classical music, on the other hand, is more courteous and aristocratic. Once translated or defined as serious music ( the name is like to be rejected thousands of miles away ) , even classical concerts require a neat suit and a straight seat.
Although classical music is more profound than popular music, its connotation is more profound, and the expression of various emotions is more delicate, but it lacks the freedom and uninhibited, affinity and fashion of popular music, and the publicity and continuous innovation of the form of expression, so it is difficult to attract more audiences!
In addition, there is a problem of universal guidance. Westerners still have a distinction between classical and popular music, and the Chinese people, especially the ordinary people, because of the differences in ethnicity, inheritance, and cultural background, are of course more unfamiliar with classical music that originates from the soil of Western traditional culture. Western symphonies, Westerners have the habit of quieting down and appreciating, and in China, many people may not have heard of it in their lifetime!
The flute and violin in Western instruments are as familiar to Westerners as we are with bamboo flutes and erhu. And there are not a few of us, and it is difficult to distinguish the instruments in the orchestra family in the symphony. There have been several times when I was walking down the street carrying a violin, and someone pointed to the piano in my hand and called it the piano!
Coupled with the fact that it is generally difficult to master a Western musical instrument, hundreds of professional music schools around the world have trained such talents as their director. In particular, the violin, which is known as the "queen" of Western instruments, is more difficult, which seems to have become a major obstacle to the popularity of classical music.
A good friend and companion of mine, her daughter chose her father's way to learn violin at the age of 4, from the domestic conservatory of music affiliated high school to university graduation, and from the foreign violin master's degree to the doctoral graduation, a full 26 years, although it is also considered to be a positive result, the name is successful, in the international violin competition, outstanding achievements, but also held by the Boston Symphony Orchestra concert of the solo violin concert, but paid a huge amount!
My friend said: If you change to him, with so much time and energy, I am afraid that other professional doctorates can get a few, but even if these kung fu are used to play the violin, if you do not have a certain talent, you may not become a real violinist! So someone once joked: If you have an enemy and are suffering from no revenge, then tell you the best way to coax his child to learn the violin!
...... Finally, I would like to say that although the temple of classical music is so difficult to enter, it still attracts generations of obsessives, suitors. With the progress of the times, the acceleration of globalization, and the continuous improvement of the cultural level of the Chinese people, I am convinced that the high art, including music, will be closer to the public, more familiar and loved by ordinary people, naturally, the difference between the so-called popular music and classical music, may be much narrower! Although by then, people are still free to choose the musicians and musical forms they like, you can prefer Jackson, Elvis Presley or Jay Chou, and he can also only love Bach, Beethoven or Mozart!
(July 2, 2009 in Ya'an)
About the Author: Full-time violin teacher; freelance photographer. Former violinist of the Chengdu Military Region Battle Flag Cultural and Labor Troupe, member of Sichuan Musicians Association, member of Sichuan Violin Education and Research Association, and examiner of Sichuan Provincial Social Art (Music) Examination. Engaged in photography for many years, he was a member of the Southwest Military Photography Society; a special reporter of the Legal Propaganda Center of the Sichuan Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission; and a special reporter of the Culture and News Department of West China Metropolis Daily. He is currently a member of The Sichuan Photographers Association, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Sichuan Entrepreneur Photography Association, an expert member of the Sichuan Ethnic Image Art Association, and a signed photographer of xinhua news agency photo library and Chengdu Classic Hui Culture Company.