Strategies and Forms of Co-existence in the World of Classical Music: From Their Origins to Today's Crisis

Today, the term “classical music” refers to a vast spectrum of various styles and movements that developed over several centuries within European culture. Strictly speaking, it would be more precise to apply this concept to the music of the Classical era, created in the second half of the 18th – early 19th century; however, the institutions and forms of communication associated with the professional formation and development of classical music, which continue to operate to this day, took shape mainly in the 19th century.

The time of the origin of classical music is a matter of debate. Antiquity, the cradle of European civilisation, left outstanding monuments in science, architecture, painting, and literature, but we know very little about what music sounded like in those distant times. The musical monuments of Antiquity are scientific treatises that give us almost no insight into actual practice. Methods for precisely notating music appeared rather late, and the ability to record and reproduce sound occupies an extremely short span of time from a historical perspective.

What is currently happening in the world of academic musical culture? Is “classical music” truly the preserve of a chosen few, or is it a powerful resource that can open up and help anyone who shows sufficient desire and diligence? How did it come about that in the second half of the 20th century, the academic tradition, which had been a powerful stream, began to fragment into many contrasting branches and directions?

Within the framework of the course, a brief history of the development of classical musical culture will be outlined, the main names of composer-creators and the features of various genres existing within the academic tradition will be examined. Special emphasis will be placed on the current situation in the field of classical music, and the forms of its existence and relevance in contemporary society will be examined through the example of musical institutions operating in Russia (opera houses, philharmonic societies, creative associations). A separate topic of the course is contemporary music festivals and ways of attracting audiences to classical music in the context of rapidly evolving media space.