[Fmpro] Is film music classical?

[Brian Wilbur Grundstrom]

This quote is from the League of American Orchestra.  I couldn't help
reposting :-)

 

Brian Wilbur Grundstrom
Composer
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Is film music classical? 


In a blog on The Guardian's (London) online component on Tuesday (4/7),
Tristan Jakob-Hoff asks, "Can film music ever be construed as 'classical'?
According to the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2008-which lists amongst its
line-up of 'Top Contemporary Composers' the names Shore, Williams, Zimmer
and someone called Badelt-it certainly can. . The reason I am irked by this
has nothing to do with the quality of the music, which ranges from the very
good-I'm almost glad to see Ennio Morricone's name on the list-to the
utterly dire (anything by the lamentable Zimmer). Rather, it is the fact
that such misclassifications only fuel the misconceptions peddled by Classic
FM about what classical music is all about. . Whether a piece is classical
or not has nothing to do with the forces involved, but with the way in which
it is intended to be listened to. Classical music is designed to be
considered, contemplated and-being the most abstract of all the art forms-to
provoke a truly subjective response in each of its listeners. Film music, on
the other hand, is meant to accompany moving pictures, to provide an
objective commentary to the on-screen action. Robbed of that on-screen
imagery, it loses much of its meaning."