Classical music used to dominate all forms of culture; it was alive, vibrant, and very worthwhile, but now, it has shifted into reverse, especially in the eyes and ears of the new generation. Accordingly, the youth of today no longer favors classical music because it is simply too old, too serious, and thus boring for them.

      Classical music, the art form that has traditionally been the most advanced and the first to embrace new technology, now regressed into antiquity and practices, which are certain to further alienate the public. At present, it is only listened to because it is respectable; and it is respected because it is old. However, in reality, it is continuously being marginalized until its only aficionados are those who favor it solely because it is old and hence, safe.

      In the past, audiences regularly cheered at the end of a classical piece if they were so moved. They often applauded during the musical performance whenever the passage or solo merited cheering. Conversely, in today's strict rules of decorum, no one is allowed to express delight or react in any way to what was just heard. People sit there motionless, as though they managed to hear nothing. However, Pop music puts on a good show, unlike these classics, which are regarded as way too serious.

     Today's youth are highly cynical; they find the conventions of the classical world as embarrassing as if they had stepped into old fashion; only it's worse than embarrassing and worse than old fashion, because it's boring. The proof of this is that audiences no longer react with the excitement unlike before, and each year the situation only worsens. Just as young people generally have a difficult time at worship and must be told to sit still, listening to classical music is considered outright uninteresting for most teenagers today. In reality, classical music itself is great, but the manner in which it is presented is dull and stagnant. A classical concert for a young man is an experience similar to attending worship in a church—perhaps spiritually enlightening, but hardly a thrill.

     Adolescence is supposed to be a time of mania and rebellion, and although there were originally plenty of such emotions in classical music, all the confidence has now been squeezed out, and what is presented are the desiccated relics. This is what the older people have done to music, and it is why the younger ones regard it as old, serious, boring, and unattractive.

     If one would observe, the adventure of the youth these days when it comes to music ends up in discos, clubs and bars where they can dance and chill in ecstasy. These pleasures, brought about by modern rock, hip-hop, R&B, and popular music, could not be offered by the classics. What is needed, then, is obvious: classical performances in which the conductor turns to the audience and shouts, “Come on people, get up and dance! Yeah!” That may strike you as the most absurd thing from one’s fervid imagination and far beyond the pale of classical music.

     The causes of this dreadful situation are obvious. Classical music has been hijacked by the “prim and proper” who have turned it into a solemn ritual, that it no longer caters to the likes of the youth. Instead of music to enjoy, classical music is now music for sitting perfectly still, music for a grim frown and music for penance. Furthermore, the other reason is that the ideal music for teens in our time no longer follows any specific steps or rhythm. At the raves and discos favored by young suburbanites I have been to, the dancing consisted mainly of simulated venery regardless of what music was being played, and expressed generally by highly regimented jerking motions of the arms. In what they call “music” today, every piece is in the same key, repeats the same single chord, and has a single identical beat.

     In short, the reason why classical music could not regain its former glory because traditional composers do not write music that the audience can relate to, in form of dancing, singing, and the like. So unless composers devise music that makes the audience want to spin and clap, the tradition of Liszt, Mozart, and other classical legends will be lost. Truly, the interest for soothing, sensational melodies has been replaced by the love for music created by lousy instruments played on maximum volume, accompanies by shouting, head banging and moving like “schizo’s on the loose."

     Now, one could present countless explanations as to why the youth of today no longer favors, or even dislikes, classical music. There is one reason, however, that is less often spoken of, and yet of greater significance. While many judge it to be old, too serious, and boring, and that the new generation could not relate to it, most of the youth nowadays are just immature enough to appreciate classical music.

     In today’s setting, children are absolved from all responsibilities of an individual and are placed in a cartoon fantasy world, they never really mature. In addition, did I mention that people typically listen all their adult lives to the same music they listened to when they were young?

Mozart, Beethoven and Saint-Saëns were each denied a childhood as they were forced to work by means of their performance skills. With a booming population, our world today likely contains a huge number of people with the talent of Mozart or Beethoven. But growing up in “Neverland” caused their musical talent to be focused, instead, on fad toys, video games, comic books, movies, modern music, fast food and a pathological aversion to anything not mired in the modern concept of childhood innocence.

     Only if the world would turn back to the old and less fast-paced way of living, only if the adults of today looked back at the days when children were taught to be more serious and more profound, then the positive reception of classical music, including all other traditional yet sophisticated forms of art, would be inevitable. It is obvious that the classical tradition is reaching a dead end in the new generation. Yet, it's still entirely possible that, with a few imaginative changes, further innovations, and more marketing, classical music could become much more popular than it currently is. Nevertheless, between the cynicism, close-mindedness, and immaturity of the youth of today, this will never happen. At this rate, classical music is doomed to a sterile and arid eternity inside a glass case.

     I personally dread the time when people would introduce classical music to the next generation by telling them that poor Beethoven went deaf, that young Mozart was crazy, that out of Liszt’s nine children, only two survived to adulthood, and that Schubert died when he was only 31! “My God! Doesn't it make you feel guilty about not listening to classical music?”

Surely, if nothing happens, the time is near when nothing remains of classical music but old, worn-out books, obsolete CD’s and faint echoes – the death of classical music is near.

     Ah, Terpsichore, weep for us! Having forgotten you, our lives are reduced to drudgery. Our feet are now vestiges of a time when we were not afraid of life. Our smiles are cosmetic. Our worship is by rote. Our joys are the evanescent rewards of greed. Our songs are music in name only. A symphony is now a sermon. We are the dry brown leaves blown by the prevailing wind. Who will dance for us?

- Keith Otis Edwards

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