Musical elitism is a vast topic that touches on aspiration, historical legacy, class, gatekeeping, education, snobbery, wealth, privilege, classical music and popular culture. In this video I take a broad look at all of these.

Please consider supporting me on Patreon
  / tantacrul  

Twitter
  / tantacrul  

Discord
https://t.co/a3oYi1Rbnc?amp=1


Chapters:
00:00 Intro
05:22 Ancient China & Confucius
09:21 The Secret Power of Music
11:51 The Sex Pistols
15:46 Mozart
21:11 Mainstream Elitism
26:47 The Classical Image
40:58 The Curious Case of Milton Babbitt
46:00 The Imposter Phenomenon
52:38 The Cultural Revolution
59:55 Final Thoughts



Subtitles by Pentameron



So many links!

Papers

“The Music and Musical Instruments of Ancient China” by Robert W. Marks
Source: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Oct., 1932), pp. 593607
https://www.jstor.org/stable/738941

“The musicality of Plato” by Leon Crickmore
Source: Hermathena, No. 180 (Summer 2006), pp. 1943
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23041660

“Musical Art in Early Confucian Philosophy” by SiuChi Huang
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1396785?...

“Moral Psychology and Degenerate Regimes in Plato’s Republic” by Peiying (Peggy) Zhu (thesis)
https://repository.wellesley.edu/obje...

“Why Chinese people play Western classical music” by Hao Huang
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/...

“Music under Mao, Its Background and Aftermath” by Mao Yu Run
Source: Asian Music , Spring Summer, 1991, Vol. 22, No. 2
https://www.jstor.org/stable/834309

‘Milton Babbitt Encounters Academia (And Vice Versa)’ by Brian Harker
Souce: American Music Vol. 26, No. 3 (Fall, 2008)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40071711...



Articles

“After the Cultural Revolution: what western classical music means in China” The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/music/201...

Confucianism Revival in China The Economist (June 23rd 2021)
https://www.economist.com/theeconomi...

New York Times article on Classical music in China (1974)
https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/15/ar...

New Statesman article on elitism in classical music (July, 2012)
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/...

BPI research on inequality in access to music in state schools
https://www.bpi.co.uk/newsanalysis/b...

Relevant articles in the New Statesman by Andrew Mellor
https://www.newstatesman.com/author/a...

Interview with John Lydon, The Times, UK, (March 1999)
http://www.johnlydon.com/TIMES_UK99.HTM

Grundy Banned, The Guardian, (December 03, 1976)
https://www.theguardian.com/theguardi...
Obscene Child, Sheila Fitzpatrick
https://www.lrb.co.uk/thepaper/v29/n...

Einaudi & Elitism in Classical Music, The CrossEyed Pianist (2020)
https://crosseyedpianist.com/tag/elit...

“Who cares if you listen?” Milton Babbitt, High Fidelity, vol. 8, no. 2 (1958)
https://wps.prenhall.com/hss_mymusicl...

A perfect Roger Ebert summary of ‘Masked and Anonymous’
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ma...

Pat Metheny on Kenny G
http://www.jazzoasis.com/methenyonken...



Reports

BPI teachers survey (2019)
https://www.bpi.co.uk/newsanalysis/b...

Musicians Union Education Statistics Report (2015)
https://musiciansunion.org.uk/Files/R...

Arts Council Creating a more inclusive classical music (2021)
https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/...

Arts Council In Harmony programme (link to a report on the homepage)
https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/music...



Books

“Mozart: Portrait of a Genius” by Norbert Elias (1993)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MozartPortr...

“Mozart” by Maynard Solomon (1995)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000ROKXX...

“The Secret Power of Music” by David Tame (1984, read at your own risk)
https://kupdf.net/download/davidtame...

“Class, Control, and Classical Music”, Anna Bull (2019)
https://oxford.universitypressscholar...



Film

“The Filth and the Fury” a documentary by Julian Temple

“Mao to Mozart Isaac Stern in China” (1979)
   • Video