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Mon 25 Mar, 2024 01:38 pm
I like classical music better than popular music, but the song form in classical music has never achieved the quality nor diversity that it has in popular music.
The sheer number of popular songs, their diversity, quality, and turn over rate far exceeds songs in the classical genre. The popular song comes right from the people, is close to the people, and is time relevant dealing with current issues and feelings. Much of classical music is timeless, but the songs in classical music do age, and that's the problem. Although there is a large literature of songs in classical music, the songs of the Beatles by themselves equal or exceed the quality of the song form in classical music.
@coluber2001,
Schubert composed a shitload of lieder, part songs, dance music, song cycles, and choral works. The range of emotion, melodic variety, and harmonic complexity stands up to any body of modern popular song. As does the musical corpus referred to as the "Great American Songbook", the Broadway and cabaret songs composed by Gershwin, Cole Porter, Arlen, Kern, etc. I will readily agree that the songs of the Beatles are of high quality and striking originality but they are derived from a different tradition and intended for a different audience; I don't think they can be compared on the same footing.
My father:
"Anything that doesn't make my ears hurt or my head ache, and (almost) never the same piece of music twice in a month. Preferably something with a discernable melody. Meaningful lyrics help too, if sung by someone of the human persuasion."
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