Elitism is tedious, especially in music 🎸🎻🎵
Arguing that rock music doesn't belong at the symphony doesn't make you sophisticated
On a recent episode of The Bulwark Podcast the guest made plenty of cringe, out-of-touch comments, but he reached peak insufferableness while bemoaning a symphony playing a tribute to Def Leppard. Forget that Def Leppard was among the least interesting of the post-Zeppelin era rock bands; his broader point was that symphonies — and fans of classical music — are “lowering their standards” by allowing such barbaric music to enter their sacred temples. He goes on to say:
There’s no admirer of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra who wants to hear it play Def Leppard, and there’s no admirer of Def Leppard who wants to hear the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Again, Def Leppard is not a top rock/metal band, but any music fan ought to be slightly enraged by this comment. Rock (particularly metal) music has a long tradition of being heavily influenced by classical music. In 1972, Led Zeppelin broke ground by playing and recording with an Indian symphony orchestra. Sub-genres of music — like neoclassical metal — were coined explicitly because the artists (shredders) were influenced so heavily by classical composers like J.S. Bach and Niccolò Paganini. Other sub-genres like “symphonic prog“ maximize their symphonic elements and often include grand, multi-movement orchestrations.
After long careers and hundreds of millions of record sales, many of the greatest rock and metal bands opened their music up to symphonic tributes. Even in the birthplace of Mozart, the symphony orchestra is planning a Metallica tribute night! Can you imagine telling the musical director of the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation that they are “lowering their standards” by playing Metallica?
Please reject unsophisticated elitism, and enjoy some symphonic renditions of metal classics1.
One of my favorite metal/classical crossover albums ever is not symphonic, but rather a medieval music interpretation of Black Sabbath: Rondellus - Sabbatum: A Medieval Tribute to Black Sabbath