I question the validity of deeming something classical. What does that mean exactly? The the piece is enriched with violins and cellos? Classical music, or the way we think of it, is dead. In that it has transformed so much that the classical music of the 20th century is far from the classical music of say, Beethoven's time. When one says a classical composer would you then group someone such as John Adams in the same category as Bach. They are two different music genres, yet they both use orchestras and such. So if Bach is classical music, which cannot be denied, and the composers of today are using the same tools of classical music but getting quite a different sound, how can the "classic" classical music be valid today? I say that classical music does not portray a genre of music in any sense of form or style, but in music at its greatest expression, at its most impressive zenith. The deeply and immortaly passionate composer of today would be deemed a classical composer in my mind even if his music, which it ultimately will not, does not sound anything like the "classic" classical music.
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