Talk:Neoclassical new-age music

Neoclassical?
Is there some possibility that neoclassical as a description of a type of New Age music is something of a misnomer. Neoclassical New Age music seems to have little in common with classical, baroque, or neoclassical art music. Pop is pop is pop. Not even Phillip Glass should be allowed to get away with disguising pop music as something else.


 * This article is a spin-off from the neoclassical (dark wave) article, which had originally been titled simply neoclassical (popular music). Some users had taken exception to the listing of dark wave artists, and the exclusion of new age artists. A decision was made to split the article into two: thus the neoclassical (dark wave) and neoclassical (new age) articles were formed to keep the two separate and distinct. These classifications are creations of Wikipedia users in an attempt to classify musical sub-genres. As all genres, including Pop, originated from attempts by fans to classify, this is perfectly acceptable. Neoclassical, in the classical music sense, pertains to the use of traditional formal structures but with a new twist. In the new age sense of neoclassical, it refers to artists who use traditional instrumentation and eschew electronic, space and trance music in favor of emphasizing artistic aesthetic expression. Such expression may range from harmonic forms to dissonant experimentalism. Although the term neoclassical has some unfortunate connotations, the term has stuck, for better or worse, and in most cases seems to fit the style of music that is played. Daniel Grünfeld (talk) 14:52, 2 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Some of these artists - Max Richter most strikingly - have so little association with "new age" that I suspect that this whole page is an attempt to place genuine modern classical composers in with new age spiritual ambient stuff because acknowledging some of these composers as belonging to either the modern minimalism, [classical music]] or modern folk (as in the case of Balmorhea would have common editors from all three up in arms because they don't sit neatly within any group, just as they don't belong as a subgroup of "new age", subgroups of a genre should at least share a family resemblance,
 * I know by listening that either this list should remove a bunch of names or we should just outright stop claiming instrumental music that is melodic must be New Age cause doncha' know classical music can't be melodic or simple. 93.107.27.241 (talk) 14:44, 17 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Max Richter is one of the composers who most fits this category of music. Some of the others are borderline. I don't think anyone with any degree of familiarity with modern classical music would ever consider Richter to be a classical composer. As for Balmorhea, they were called neoclassical by the reviewer Austin Powell of the Austin Chronicle, as referenced in footnote 1. By Wikipedia's standards, that is sufficient to place them into this category of music. I won't argue that many of the artists who have been added to this list probably shouldn't be there. And you are right, probably a lot of artists listed here are not comfortable being categorized as Neoclassical New Age. I wish a better label could be invented for this category of music, but "instrumental music that is melodic" just doesn't cut it. Daniel Grünfeld (talk) 22:49, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

This is my first entry so bear with me. But I totally disagree with the statement: "anyone with any degree of familiarity with modern classical music would ever consider Richter to be a classical composer" - if you look on his Wikipedia page he has two degrees in composition, was a student of Berio's and is exclusively signed to Deutsche Grammophon, the worlds most recognisable Classical label. While his work sounds deceptively simple, and does incorporate electronics, it is rigorously constructed serious music rooted in Western Classical traditions. For example his work 'On The Nature of Daylight' is in strict five part counterpoint throughout. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 37.120.5.148 (talk) 23:56, 15 March 2015 (UTC)