What is Classical Music?

Overview

https://www.yourclassical.org/story/2013/10/15/what-is-classical-music

Classical music is a genre of music that is rooted in Western European traditions. This genre has a wide range of styles, from Baroque to Romantic, and encompasses a diverse range of instruments and vocal styles. Classical music has evolved over the past few centuries with each era defined by its distinct style. Starting in the 15th century is the Renaissance era (1400-1600), followed by the Baroque era (1600-1750), then the Classical era (1750-1830), the Romantic era, which is broken up into the early (1830-1860) and late (1860-1920) romantic eras, and finally, the Modern era (1920-present).

Some of the most notable classical composers include: Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, and many many others. Classical music has had a significant impact on the development of music and culture worldwide. It has served as a source of inspiration for countless musicians and composers across various genres, and has played an important role in the development of music education. Classical music has been used in various types of media, from movies to television to video games, and continues to be performed in concert halls and other venues across the globe. Despite the genre’s decline in popularity in modern times, its beauty, complexity, and emotional depth continue to captivate audiences and inspire new generations of musicians and composers.

Although classical music may not be my primary genre of choice anymore, it will always hold a special place in my heart. During my early years of music education, from ages 4 to around 13, I exclusively played classical music. Attending a music school for elementary and middle school provided me, as a pianist, with a solid classical foundation in music theory and technique.

Interview:

Mr. Simone Ferraresi

Mr. Simone Ferraresi is an Italian Composer and Pianist and he is also my advanced music theory teacher. He attended a music conservatory in Italy where he decided to pursue music as a career. He has composed pieces for solo piano, chamber ensembles, and full orchestras. He is now a Music Theory teacher and an accompanist for several choirs and ensembles at Poly Prep Country Day high school in Brooklyn, New York.

Q&A with Mr. Simone Ferraresi

1. What age were you introduced to music? 

I was 5 years old when my father gave me my first piano lessons.

2. How did growing up in Italy influence your approach to music?

I think the Conservatory of Music in my hometown in Italy, the Renaissance city of Ferrara, was the first school that made a difference and that pushed me to become a musician. In some European countries like Italy, France, and Russia, students enter the Conservatory system (which is the equivalent to higher education or college) when they are 11. This is very different in the US, when you can only go to a Conservatory after high school.

3. Were/are any of your family members musicians?

My father was a church organ builder, as well as a piano tuner and technician.

4. What was music like for you as a kid/teenager growing up in Italy?

I mostly listened to classical music from the age of 8 up to 13 years old. Then I discovered other genres like pop, rock, and jazz. From the age of 13, in addition to the classical repertoire, I started to listen to 20th Century music. I mostly listened to Bartok, Stravinsky, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff as well as a lot of atonal music, especially by Schoenberg and Boulez. Around the same time, I became more and more interested in rock and went to see many concerts (for example Guns N’ Roses, and R.E.M)

5. When you were growing up in Italy, was classical music a common genre for kids your age (even non-musicians) to listen to and study?

I would say that in Italy it was pretty common to have friends who played the piano. And of course, when I started attending the Conservatory of Music, pretty much all my friends played a musical instrument and most of them later became professional musicians. It was very competitive and fun to be a young musician when everyone around me was doing the same kind of thing.

6. Do you remember the first time you saw a live musical performance?

I do not remember the first time, but I certainly remember when I started going to the concert hall regularly and that was when I was 11 years old. Every year, my family bought a concert series subscription at the concert hall and we all would attend concerts once or twice per month. We would hear the most famous pianists, orchestras and chamber music instrumentalists. Going to those concerts really shaped who I am and definitely made me want to become a musician.

7. What was your first performance like and when was it?

I performed in a concert when I was 13 years old in a church near my home. It was a lot of fun and I still remember it very clearly.

8. What instrument/s do you play? What’s your main instrument?

I mostly play the piano since it is my main instrument. I can play the harpsichord and the pipe organ too. And I can play a few chords on the guitar.

9. What is something that is or was particularly difficult about classical piano? 

I think it started to be more difficult when I went on to study at the Music Academies in Vienna and London in my early 20s. Those were the hardest times because my professors were at such a high level that it was really difficult to keep up with their demands regarding both the technical and the interpretive aspects of playing the piano repertoire.

10. Who is one musician who you looked up to as a kid?

The Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini.

11. Who are your inspirations?

There were three or four pianists who were my biggest inspirations: Maurizio Pollini, Evgeny Kissin, Krystian Zimerman, Ivo Pogorelich.

12. What was the best concert you’ve seen and why?

It’s a difficult question. But I think it might have been a couple of recitals by Evgeny Kissin. His piano technique was almost reaching the impossible, mind-boggling precision and speed – it was at the highest level imaginable.

13. If you could see one musician (dead or alive) play live, who would it be and why?

Artur Rubinstein, because I like his recordings very much.

14. What is the quintessential piece or pieces that any student of classical music should know?

Bach’s Preludes and Fugues, English Suites, French Suites. Mozart and Haydn Sonatas.

15. What is your favorite piece of classical music?

I don’t have a favorite piece of classical music. Whatever favorite music I might be listening to keeps changing as the time goes by. When I was in my teens, my favorite composer was Scriabin, and that period of infatuation went on for something like 10 years. But more in general, I think Chopin is the composer that I have always loved throughout my life.

16. Who is your favorite composer and why?

In addition to Scriabin and Chopin, I especially like Beethoven and Mozart. I specialized in the interpretation of the Viennese classical composers when I was in Vienna (Mozart, Schubert, Haydn and Beethoven). 

17. What led you to decide to dedicate your career to music?

I never made a decision about it because when I was a kid I already knew I would go on to play the piano for the rest of my life. I was very good at it so it never occurred to me that I would pursue anything but music.

18. What was your most memorable experience as a musician?

I think it was when I took part in the Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw (the hardest piano competition to get admitted to). It was challenging and scary to play for the Polish National TV and Radio networks, in front of an audience of 1,500.

19. Do you think that classical music is the best foundation for musicians? If so, why?

I don’t believe it is the best foundation – I think it is a good foundation but it is not necessarily the best for everyone.

20. If you could give advice to an amateur student learning classical music, what would it be?

I would tell them to go to Carnegie Hall once a month and hear the best musicians in the world. That makes a huge difference!

21. Is classical music different in America and Europe? 

This is another tough question. I think my answer goes back to what I said earlier, regarding the Conservatory system. I think Europe and Eastern Asian countries have a big advantage in building classical musicians because the professional training begins at the age when you naturally learn a language. And the technical aspect of classical music is also athletic in nature, so the earlier you start practicing, the better. Maybe this is why a majority of classical competition winners are either European or East Asian musicians. In the US, there are uneven standards for examinations before you start with college education; it is often too late to learn the technical aspect when you are 17 and so it’s harder to become a professional classical musician at the global level when young musicians from other countries are winning competitions in their teens. I noticed that most of the top American classical musicians mostly concertize in the US and don’t necessarily have (or need to have) an international career. If you look at Carnegie Hall’s programming, you will see many American musicians alongside European and East Asian musicians, but you rarely see those Americans in concert halls around the world, while you will still see the Europeans and East Asians. Obviously, this does not mean that the top Europeans and East Asians are better than American classical musicians: It’s just the former have a huge leg up on the competition because they start earlier. Also, I think the American classical music industry tends to be kind of insulated from the rest of the world. If you think of it, even music theory is taught differently and I think it might be an example of American exceptionalism.

22. Can you discuss any projects/collaborations that you either are working on or have finished? 

When I started my career as a school teacher in 2006, it became harder to find the necessary time to practice the piano. I turned to choir conducting, composition, and the organ; this is mainly due to my other job as a church music director in Jersey City for the past 10 years, so every Sunday morning I play the organ and conduct the choir.

23. Do you have a hidden talent or something that you can do that not many people know about? (It can be anything) 

I like to learn languages. I speak three languages (Italian, English and Japanese). I also like to teach about Italian culture, language, customs – as well as recipes, since I am quite good at cooking!