Classical Music in a Changing Culture

Founded in 1935, The American Record Guide is America's oldest classical music review magazine. In 1987, when Donald Vroon assumed its editorship, he took on the Herculean task of writing editorials on a vast array of subjects, amassing a wealth of commentary and criticism on not only the foibles and failings, but glimmers of light in American culture. A staunch defender of the highbrow pleasures of good music composed, played, and heard with intelligence, Vroon takes no prisoners in assessing the challenges and failures and possible successes that confront America's future as a nation of music listeners.
In Classical Music in a Changing Culture: Essays from The American Record Guide, Vroon delves into a variety of topics: orchestra finances, contemporary music, classical music marketing, attracting young crowds, musical aesthetics, the future of classical music, the sale and distribution of music in the modern era; the decline of American culture and its causes; the role of misguided ideologies that affect American music, from political correctness to multiculturalism to period performance practice, and the true richness of our music and its subculture. As Vroon argues, since all criticism is cultural criticism, music criticism in the broadest sense-from its composition to its distribution to its reception-is a window onto broader culture issues.
Classical Music in a Changing Culture should appeal to anyone serious about classical music and worried about its increasing marginalization in our contemporary culture. These essays are not written for specialists but for thinking readers who love music and care about its place in our lives.

Donald Vroon has served as editor of The American Record Guide since 1987, and he has authored many hundreds of essays and reviews that have been published in its pages. He has served as a judge for piano competitions and as a guest lecturer for orchestra executives.

Introduction Essay 1: Elitism Essay 2: Education & Culture Essay 3: Don't Educate Us; Entertain Us Essay 4: Fun Essay 5: Fads and Trends Essay 6: The Romantic Art Essay 7: Orchestra Finances Essay 8: The New and News Essay 9: Contemporary Music Essay 10: Airheads Essay 11: Marketing and Image Essay 12: Marketing Idiocy Essay 13: Marketing and Its Discontents Essay 14: Seeking Out the Best Things in Life Essay 15: Multiculturalism Essay 16: Later: Black Musicians and Marketing Essay 17: Attracting a Young Crowd Essay 18: The Land of the Obvious Essay 19: On Spiritual Matters Essay 20:Attentiveness and Judgment Essay 21: Attentiveness II Essay 22: Absorption Essay 23: Feeling Essay 24: Does Quality Have a Future Essay 25: Performance Practice Essay 26: Aesthetics and Criticism Essay 27: PPP and True Authenticity Essay 28: PPP II Essay 29: Cultural Suicide Essay 30: Cultural Suicide 2 Essay 31: The Golden Age Essay 32: The Nostalgia Trap Essay 33: Surtitles Essay 34: The Death of Service Essay 35: Distribution Essay 36: Browsing Essay 37: Is the Internet the End of Records?