Crossover: A Historical Overlook

0

This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en: Francais (French)

The term “crossover” has been used in the musical world since the 1980s to describe classical musicians (composers and artists) who have moved into the pop world. Their purpose: to cast a wider net over the fan base of one genre by mashing it with another. The genres which are blended need not be classical, though.

Attracting listeners to classical music by adopting crossover strategy is working for well-known artists such as Angèle Dubeau, Yo-Yo Ma, Yuja Wang, Itzhak Perlman and others who have not hitched their careers to any one genre. Each has created a personal stylistic brand which includes both classical (heavy and light) and other genres in their programs as did Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Fiedler, Yehudi Menuhin and other great conductors who widened their audience base through programs which combined classical music with lighter works and with pop pieces.

MASHUPS

Although the term crossover is relatively new when applied within the classical music sector, the approach of combining and blending traditional and popular styles of composing and performing has had a following for -centuries. The “input” of folk and pop and the “output” of classical music for heart-to-heart communication is notorious. Composers do not write in a vacuum. They are influenced by their surroundings, whether consciously or subconsciously, incidentally or deliberately.

By way of example, as far back as the 18th century, Mozart created a work for piano—Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman”—which consciously or subconsciously reproduced a nursery rhyme that is traceable to the same period. The work that Mozart created lived on for centuries in ­popularity—both as a classical work and as a mainstream tune referenced under many ­titles. Was it a deliberate mashup of classical and contemporary in his time? Whether known as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, ABC (the Alphabet Song) or Baa Baa Black Sheep, in the 20th century, Shinichi Suzuki deliberately reworked the familiar tune under the name Twinkle. It became the foundation for his “mother-tongue approach” to teaching classical music (violin, cello, piano). Whether traceable to a child’s nursery rhyme, to a world-class Japanese 20th-century educator or to an 18th-century educator, Twinkle/Mozart has captured the fascination of musicians from all over the world and there is no turning back.

THE BUSINESS CASE

For music producers, combining classical and pop is a smart business move. The challenge is to find the artists who can commit to excellence in both genres. Fortunately, the numbers of such artists are growing, Cellist Yo-Yo Ma has been playing cello over 60 years, classical and contemporary. He favours titles such as “crossing borders” for his CDs and is classified as a “classical crossover” artist. His perspectives on making connections through music are shared on the Masterclass series, where he discusses the need for appreciation of all musical genres—classical and contemporary. His masterful, multiple recordings and live performances of the -technically demanding Bach solo cello suites, for example, are no less popular than his renditions of Astor Piazzolla and Cole Porter.

World-class violinist Itzhak Perlman is also an eloquent ambassador for crossover classical music. As far back as 1997, Sony Classical released Cinema Serenade, expressly labelled “classical crossover.” The CD features Itzhak Perlman (violin), John Williams and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Perlman has always been as much at ease with classical music as with other genres, which accounts for how he is admired even outside the classical world. As a child, Perlman reportedly listened to half and half of classical and popular music. This is a biographical fact that he shares in the Masterclass series. One of his key takeaways invites listeners to share and to feel his enthusiasm for music, and to agree with him that musicians are extremely lucky—because what can be better than making a living while performing great music?

VIDEO: John Williams: Perlman plays Schindler’s List Theme

As a composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Variations, for cello and rock band, headed even further into to the mishmash of classical pop. While the choice of melody and harmony are primary factors for delineating between classical and contemporary, there are others: timbre and instrumentation play significant roles, too. For Lloyd Weber, the cello has offered a classical feel to an overall vibe that is pop. Classically trained, he has combined forces over time with other well-known crossover artists such as Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli, in works such as “Time To Say Goodbye.” The song bears an ironic title, given that its popularity has stood the test of time, without waning. Bocelli, a classical opera star, freely and effectively mixes arias with popular music (the “popera” genre).

The Piano Guys (pianist Jon Schmidt and cellist Steven Sharp Nelson) take classical works and contemporary pop hits, then rework, reproduce, perform, and create mashups. This has become their unique style. Their goal of making the world a better place through music videos which play everything from the Bach cello suites to Over the Rainbow seems to have caught on, as their live 2022 tour schedule affirms.

A TREND WHICH WILL CONTINUE

Baroque composer Georg PhilippTelemann, a multi-instrumentalist who was self-taught, famously said this years ago. Nowadays, virtuoso Quebec violinist Angèle Dubeau and her all-women contemporary classical ensemble, La Pietà, adopt this insight as their motto. Music belongs to everyone, without barriers. But it is not freely available to be reworked without authorization from the copyright owner(s). Nor should it be assumed that all rights holders are pleased to have their creations or performances modified. Reusing Bach or Paganini won’t generate complaints from either of them for obvious reasons. But reusing the works of living composers or artists in a modified format may invite unintended attention and unanticipated costs. So, it’s a buyer-beware situation in terms of litigation in the industry. Happily, effective use of crossover that is legal is on the rise. Reworking, reproducing, performing, and making available adds to the pool of revenues generated for the initial composer as well as for those who are -involved in the crossover initiative.

It takes education, marketing, and creativity to communicate that classical music, as a genre, is universally relatable. Perhaps more so than for other genres, be they alternative, blues, country, dance, electronica, folk, rock, rap, and pop. Some genres are doing better than others, when measured by the reports of royalty revenue generation from commercially successful artists. Talented classical musicians must not be left behind.

Composers and artists, in particular, face ever-increasing challenges for market share as they compete for revenues in the era of music streaming. Whatever the medium for making music available, composers, performers, conductors, makers, and sellers of musical instruments are entering a new difficult post-COVID era. Crossover musicians address these pressing challenges by removing barriers that have unnecessarily divided classical music and other genres. The results are rewarding for all.

This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en: Francais (French)

Share:

About Author

Andrea Rush B.Mus, L.Mus. LLM. , R.M,T. , Dipl. D’etudes theoriques graduated from the Conservatoire de Que., ( premiere medaille) and McGill University, after studying ( on full scholarship ) with pianists Dorothy Morton, Irving Heller, Fleurette Beauchamp-Huppe Herman David and conductor Alexander Brott. She has guest lectured on music, computer technology and related legal issues at York University, OCAD, McGill and Stanford University. Andrea is a member of the American Musicological Society and the Music Critics Association of North America. She continues as a member of the string section of various community orchestras in Toronto.

Leave A Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.