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.
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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

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Subtitles by Pentameron

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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. 593-607
https://www.jstor.org/stable/738941

“The musicality of Plato” by Leon Crickmore
Source: Hermathena, No. 180 (Summer 2006), pp. 19-43
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23041660

“Musical Art in Early Confucian Philosophy” by Siu-Chi Huang
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1396785?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

“Moral Psychology and Degenerate Regimes in Plato’s Republic” by Peiying (Peggy) Zhu (thesis)
https://repository.wellesley.edu/object/ir783

“Why Chinese people play Western classical music” by Hao Huang
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0255761411420955

“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?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

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Articles

“After the Cultural Revolution: what western classical music means in China” - The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jul/08/after-the-cultural-revolution-what-western-classical-music-means-in-china

Confucianism Revival in China - The Economist (June 23rd 2021)
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/06/23/how-did-confucianism-win-back-the-chinese-communist-party

New York Times article on Classical music in China (1974)
https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/15/archives/china-assails-beethoven-and-schubert.html

New Statesman article on elitism in classical music (July, 2012)
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2012/07/classical-music-should-be-about-more-elite-parties-and-private-s

BPI research on inequality in access to music in state schools
https://www.bpi.co.uk/news-analysis/bpi-calls-on-government-to-tackle-growing-inequality-in-access-to-music-in-state-schools/

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

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/theguardian/1976/dec/03/greatinterviews
Obscene Child, Sheila Fitzpatrick
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v29/n13/sheila-fitzpatrick/obscene-child

Einaudi & Elitism in Classical Music, The Cross-Eyed Pianist (2020)
https://crosseyedpianist.com/tag/elitism-in-classical-music/

“Who cares if you listen?” Milton Babbitt, High Fidelity, vol. 8, no. 2 (1958)
https://wps.prenhall.com/hss_mymusiclibrary_1/167/42754/10945080.cw/index.html

A perfect Roger Ebert summary of ‘Masked and Anonymous’
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/masked-and-anonymous-2003

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

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Reports

BPI teachers survey (2019)
https://www.bpi.co.uk/news-analysis/bpi-calls-on-government-to-tackle-growing-inequality-in-access-to-music-in-state-schools/

Musicians Union Education Statistics Report (2015)
https://musiciansunion.org.uk/Files/Reports/Industry/Education-Statistics-Report.aspx

Arts Council - Creating a more inclusive classical music (2021)
https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/Executive_Summary.pdf

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

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Books

“Mozart: Portrait of a Genius” by Norbert Elias (1993)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mozart-Portrait-Genius-Norbert-Elias/dp/0520084756

“Mozart” by Maynard Solomon (1995)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000ROKXXS/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

“The Secret Power of Music” by David Tame (1984, read at your own risk)
https://kupdf.net/download/david-tame-the-secret-power-of-music_58d59399dc0d60cb7cc34628_pdf

“Class, Control, and Classical Music”, Anna Bull (2019)
https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190844356.001.0001/oso-9780190844356

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Film

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

“Mao to Mozart - Isaac Stern in China” (1979)
https://youtu.be/1JtXq63b-Fw