Quote:
Originally Posted by jimtranr
One reason--and it's strictly a guess--is that it's because classical typically requires a more-than-casual attention span, where you have to listen actively, often for long stretches--unless all you care about is the "big tune." We're an immediate-gratification, hurry-hurry culture, and the rigors of classical listening don't quite fit that mold.
I suspect that the same could apply to jazz.
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Yes. Two and a half reasons today for the ever shortening attention span:TV and the Internet and the remote control. Before those, pop culture and radio. All related to a proclivity or disinclination to focus without distraction for 20-90 minutes.
Although there are exceptions, classical music is more complex tonally, temporally and dynamically than most other music genres. It is more complex (and expensive) to execute well, requiring, at the orchestral level, 30-120 trained musicians, 20-40 different instruments, a large perfomrance space with decent acoustics and a singular genius level conductor to control it all while understanding a score. Fewer patrons are positioned to bear those expenses. Modernist and post-modern music (as interesting as they may be) do not have the audience draw of classical and romantic genres providing both tension and release.
For an entertaining read try
The Life and Death of Classical Music by Norman Lebrecht.