How long can classical music ignore the glaringly obvious?


Celebrated Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csiszentmihalyi argues that flow is a mental state of immersive and exclusive concentration that at the highest level can trigger mystical experiences - the state where nothing else seems to matter. Mihaly Csiszentmihalyi explains that music reduces psychic entropy by organising the mind of the listener, and he defines psychic entropy as the disorder generated by information that conflicts with and distracts from the carrying out of priority intentions. Extending his theory of how music reduces psychic entropy, Csiszentmihalyi proposes that greater rewards are open to those who learn to make music, and that even greater rewards can accrue to the great musicians who extend the harmony they create in sound to "the more general and abstract harmony that underlies the kind of social order we call civilisation".

One of my own modest priority intentions was fulfilled recently when I heard one of the Chemiriani dynasty of Persian musicians live in concert. I took the header photo of Bijan Chemirani during his concert with guitarist Kevin Seddiki at the Conservatoire Olivier Messiaen in Avignon. Bijan's father Djamchid Chemirani learnt to play in Iran with the zarb master Hossein Tehrani before emigrating from Tehran to France in 1961, and later formed the legendary Trio Chemirani with his two sons Keyvan and Bijan. The percussion playing of Bijan Chemirani is an example of how mystical states can be experienced by both performer and listener through immersive and exclusive concentration. But despite Mihaly Csiszentmihalyi citing music in his research, there have been only a few notable attempts to apply the flow theory to Western classical music. In fact the strategies adopted to win new audiences are diametrically opposed to the flow theory, and that paradox demands closer examination.

Immersive and exclusive concentration by both performers and audience - Britten spoke of how music "demands as much effort on the listener's part" - has been central to the development of Western classical music. Mihaly Csiszentmihalyi's flow theory, which has widespread acceptance and support in academic circles, explains, to paraphrase the title of his seminal book, how flow contributes to the psychology of optimal experience. Yet almost every strategy to win new audiences involves interrupting the immersive flow and sub-optimising the experience, with no attention at all paid to reviving the lost art of listening. The disruptive initiatives include dismantling concert hall convention, with the latest proposal being to encourage drinking and mobile phone use during concerts. This love affair with the disruptive extends beyond the concert hall to personal listening; with 'classical music to go' via streaming services - the Matthew Passion in an airport departure lounge - and intrusive linking announcements by radio presenters being prime examples.

Classical music is obsessed with, to use the tacky jargon, optimising the listener experience. The widely referenced theory advanced by a respected academic proposes that a mental state of immersive and exclusive concentration is vital to the psychology of optimal experience. Yet all the fashionable audience development initiatives use contra-flow tactics that generate distractions and sub-optimises the listening experience. How long can classical music ignore the glaringly obvious?

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Comments

Bodie said…
Dr. Frank Diaz, here at the University of Oregon, has studied the effects of pre-listening meditation on performers and audience members. "Diaz said that the real time responses more accurately captured the attention being devoted to the music, and that the mindfulness technique helped drive participants into the zone of readiness to listen to music they've heard many times before." From: http://uonews.uoregon.edu/archive/news-release/2013/1/mindfulness-meditation-heightens-listeners-musical-engagement
Anonymous said…
I came across a creeative presentation of Bach cantatas (presented live, recorded, and filmed) which I would certainly attend ... if I were in Switzerland and spoke enough German to benefit from the discussions. I suspect Britten would approve of the approach, which certainly satisfies his concern about appropriate preparation, and which seems to me to fit into the model you discuss of abandoning "mass markets" in favour of niches.

Breifly, here's the approach ...

"The evening begins with conductor Rudolf Lutz and theologist Karl Graf introducing the chosen cantata in the form of a lively dialogue. Then, singing and playing from the keyboard, Rudolf Lutz demonstrates the work’s musical hallmarks and invites the audience to join in singing the chorales. The cantata is then performed twice, with a “reflction” lecture taking place in between. The speakers – well-known personalities from the worlds of art, culture, economics and politics – select a motif or feature of the cantata to develop from their personal standpoint."

I've listened to several of the recordings (courtesy of the Naxos Music Library), and they're very fine. There's also lots on YouTube.

More at www.bachstiftung.ch/en/ .
Pliable said…
Bodie's link points to some important research. So I have expanded on it in a further post - http://goo.gl/117nFO
Anonymous said…
We were having a discussion about this on my Facebook timeline and I realized I address related points in a post I did about the Myth of the General Audience. http://silpayamanant.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/myth-of-the-general-audience-classical-music-and-token-activism/

Until we stop assuming audiences are homogeneous, we can't stop assuming that we need to created homogeneous live performing events.
Pliable said…
The comment above echoes a theme that has appeared here several times:

Classical music and the mass market fallacy -http://www.overgrownpath.com/2010/11/classical-music-and-mass-market-fallacy.html
Unknown said…
"music reduces psychic entropy by organising the mind of the listener". Not really sure what exactly psychic entropy is, but assuming that it is a vague way to refer to "disorder" in the brain, and leaving to side how this "flow" theory measures it ... are we sure music decreases it? All music? Including twelve tones and heavy metal (to name a couple).

Ans as far as audience: I think the more composers pay attention to it and serve it and reach out without claiming to posses a "truth" that people must strive to understand the better it is! Maybe not drinks and chats during concerts, but maybe forms of interactions (like at rock concerts or opera) ... we modern composers have a long way to go to reconnect with the world out there!

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