Classical Crossover Music Analysis

According to Whiting, the primary purpose of classical crossover music is to “appeal to a wider audience than the original version of music.” The well-known classical pianist Christopher O'Riley once said, "I think crossover in general as a commercial term has been a bad designation of something that has an awfully long history to it." Christopher O’Riley is known for playing transcriptions of songs by the rock band Radiohead. His works show his vision of "Beethoven and Mozart sitting down at a dinner party, playing the popular aria of the day” to him Beethoven was probably better known as an improviser until people started giving him attention for his symphonies. Christopher O’Riley goes on to explain that Liszt borrowed Hungarian folk
songs for his music and Bartok used popular music in his compositions (Hunter, 2006). Thus, the term “crossover” does not necessarily apply only to today’s classical crossover genres as it can also be traced back through history. Changes in culture and society as well as the combination of two or more different existing musical genres are characteristics of classical crossover music. Classical crossover music reflects the ideology, popular culture, and technology of the present day.

The Debate: Is Classical Crossover the right thing? Responses to Classical Crossover have been negative. According to the former head of EMI Classics Costa Pilavachi, classical music supporters sneer at crossover music (Adams, 2006). Classical Crossover artists are "attacked for simply existing” (Tilley, n.d.). Many Classical music fans and critics may see the Classical Crossover as a sell-out and watering down of the artistic form to accommodate the masses. In order to become successful in classical music industry, classically trained artists spend a lot of time in practicing and endless effort to get recognition in the field. On the other hand, Classical Crossover artists do not necessarily depend on their skills for success (Tilley, n.d.). Their focus is the marketing to sell by being creative. Some classical musicians may argue that the Classical Crossover music is just a trend according to culture that would not survive. A classical mezzo-soprano Susan Graham spoke in an interview with BBC Music Magazine in 2002:
So, for being the real thing, we’re elitist? Just because you can sing an opera aria into a microphone doesn’t mean you can sing opera. It takes years of training and being in the trenches before you can sing opera. I heard Charlotte Church on TV the other night, and the poor girl! She can’t be receiving the proper training (Beckingham, 2009). A cellist and a professor Terry B. King said, “these projects (Classical Crossover genre) are only expedient events created by the concert media” (Smith, 2005, p.104). He believes that they are “shallow” and “not sincere enough to last or to bring new listeners to the fold” (Smith, 2005). It may be true that the Classical Crossover artists only perform what the audiences want to hear. Most of them make popular music, not solely art music. What they really do is to “appeal to a mass audience to survive in the music industry” (Tilley, n.d.). To some people who do not have much knowledge about classical music, when they are first approached to Crossover Classical music that are arranged from classical to popular, they might think that they have listened to the original music. If ‘the masses’ think that the crossover version is the best classical has to offer, “they will never venture any further and that is deeply damaging.” (Beckingham, 2009, p. 62). The truth is that Classical Crossover has become a genre unto itself. Even though Classical Crossover has some negative aspects from the classical purists for the fact that it is not acknowledged as an art form to their standards, it is also true that it is becoming more popular to many people who are not necessarily classical music lovers because of its easy form with the help of social media. With changes in the music industry, the recession in classical music record sales, decline of traditional classical music radio channels, and combination of new digital access to music via many social media sources such as YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and iTunes Podcasts, crossover artists and all crossover style music will continue to flourish, though whether the word crossover continues to be used (Edmondson, 2013, 320).

Classical Music for Some, Classical Crossover Music for All Today’s Classical Crossover music is more commercial than today’s traditional classical music.
Typically, classical music appeals only to a narrow demographic, which The Guardian journalist Stephen Moss (2007) described this audience as “getting on in years, retired, white [and] middle-class.” Most Americans view Classical music as a luxury, something reserved for the rich and elite. Others see it as an unnecessary distraction (Lebrecht, 1997). An article from Slate announced, “Classical music in America is dead” in 2014. The author of the article Mark Vanhoenacker (2014) stated, “Younger fans are not converting to classical music as they age. The last generation to broadly love classical music may simply be aging, like World War I veterans, out of existence.” He also mentions the problem with music education at public schools; how school funding cuts fall first on arts education and no music specialists serving elementary schools. The Classical radio is slowly going away and many orchestras are filing bankruptcies. Even The New York City Opera, once called as the “people’s opera,” filed for bankruptcy in October, 2014 (Vanhoenacker, 2014). In reality, the traditional classical music is slowly dying and underappreciated by the
public. Unlike traditional classical music, classical crossover music adapts to today’s popular culture and trends. Since it meets the demands from popular culture, it is usually more appealing to audiences without age, gender, and social boundaries. One of today’s top classical crossover album artists is the classically trained violinist David Garrett (Lipshutz, 2009). In David Garrett albums, he mixes traditional classical compositions with popular music tunes by Queen, Metallica, David Guetta, and Michael Jackson (Lipshutz, 2009). By doing this, even non-classical fans can enjoy his music. According to Paul Foley, who is the manager at the British record label Decca, “An older audience just likes listening to the songs, while a younger audience can recognize his take on ‘Smooth Criminal’ (originally by Michael Jackson) and appreciate it” (Billboard, 2009). Foley adds, “It is important to expand both demographics, and David Garrett straddles that line well” (Lipshutz, 2009). Not only does Garrett play classical crossover versions of popular songs, but also has his own take on some classical music pieces. He has performed crossover arrangements of classical pieces by the likes of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Bizet, Paganini, Vivaldi, and many more. He often adds electronic sound effects and drum beats in most of his music. By mixing modern musical elements, his classical crossover music gives the audience a new spin on classical music. This kind of music is more modernized, casual, and approachable, as it often does not require audience to have formal classical concert etiquettes. For traditional classical music concerts, there are a few formal etiquette rules such as dressing formally, knowing when to clap, no making noises during performance, and turning off cell phones.
On the other hand, all these formal restrictions do not necessarily apply to Classical Crossover music concerts. It is probably why Classical Crossover music is more casual and easier for the audiences to truly enjoy.

Music that Sells Today’s classical album chart is consisted of both traditional classical music and crossover classical music artists (Adams, 2006). According to Billboard’s Classical Album Chart of October 10th, 2015, the top 20 albums are all by crossover classical artists, including: Il Volo, Yo-Yo Ma, Black Violin, Lindsey Stirling, The Piano Guys, The Tenors, Andrea Bocelli and Jackie Evancho (see
Fig.1):