­In recent years, classical music has partially moved from physical recordings to the internet. In that context, the case of Johann Sebastian Bach highlights the increasing democratisation and specialisation of classical music. Democratisation, the idea of a breaking down of barriers between audience and music, is particularly achieved by the constant, often free availability of music online: Bach is universal by being ubiquitous.


Theoretically anyone can access his music without any cultural or financial barriers. Specialisation, on the other hand, describes a focussing on and highlighting of Bach as being special. These trends are exemplified by two online projects: Pure Bach by the German Klassik Radio, and the Netherlands Bach Society’s All of Bach.

 

Klassik Radio is currently running nine web channels; Pure Bach is the fifth-most popular. As the name suggests, this stream only plays music by Bach who – alongside Tchaikovsky – is the most popular composer with the radio’s audience. According to Bettina Zacher, head of music, he is the “king” who set the pattern musically and compositionally for future generations and thus deserves being highlighted (2015, personal communication).


Democratisation is achieved with the channels’ world-wide free, around the clock availability. Klassik Radio’s target group is “everyone,” and the station attempts to create a forum for music without pigeon-holing it, also trying to avoid the elitist connotations of classical music. Zacher understands her role as someone opening doors into the world of music by offering a large, high-quality repertoire allowing audiences to form their own opinion.


This “gate-opener” attitude is closely linked to the ideas of the democratisation of classical music. The wish of reaching more people, especially the younger generation, and to introduce them to classical music is prevalent. The average age of Klassik Radio’s regular audience is 55+ (ibid.); the assumption that the internet can be a means to reach a different demographic is supported by studies showing that roughly eighty percent of the German online radio audience is younger than fifty (ag.ma & RMS 2013).


On the other hand, the notion of specialisation is also very obvious in playing “pure” Bach. However, the stream is not completely isolated; the web channels are grouped on the same website, allowing easy switches between them. One of the big challenges is to achieve the balancing act of catering both to those who have previous knowledge of Bach and classical music and those who do not without alienating any one.


The challenge relates to the question of a focus on specialisation (possible for those with pre-existing knowledge) or democratisation (the wish to open up classical music to a wider audience). In effect the gatekeeper – someone who determines what and how something is mediated by technology (Barnard 1997, p.272) – behind the gate-opener is revealed: the presentation of Bach depends on editorial decisions.

 

In the Netherlands, a similar Bach-focused project – All of Bach – is run by the Netherlands Bach Society (NBS). Its explicit goal is to embrace the new media for its democratising characteristics as a “future-proof” way of bringing Bach to the world: “In order to reach as many people as possible, we turned our eyes to the new media. […] ‘It’s a gift to the world’” (Netherlands Bach Society n.d.). In particular the option of video was embraced; the performances are filmed and then uploaded onto the project’s website together with background information and artist interviews. “We try to make it as accessible as possible by avoiding spe­cialist terms and musicological discussions […]. We try to explain and talk about the music on a level that everyone can under­stand. It is all online, all for free” (Anderson 2015). Thus like Klassik Radio, NBS understand themselves as gate-openers, performing Bach’s music and then sharing it with as many as possible without any impositions on the audience like paywalls or required previous knowledge.


At the same time specialisation plays a role. As much as the target audience is the world, the focus on Bach only, with no links to other composers or contexts, makes it more likely that the website is accessed by those already familiar with Bach and seeking out resources that match All of Bach’s profile. This specialisation of classical music resources on Bach as exemplified by All of Bach (and Pure Bach) suggests not only that he is worth more than other composers – being worthy of such singular projects, – it also caters the music more exclusively to those who already know about Bach and look specifically for his opus only, in seclusion from any other music.

 

It remains to be seen in how far the internet will affect the perception of Bach and his music in the long term. The internet has not “eradicated all obstacles and completely democratized classical music” but these projects show that it is still strong (Boone 2008). They also imply that Bach is one, if not the leading figure of classical music – they are both born from that conviction and simultaneously manifest and enforce the idea.

 

 

References


 

  • Barnard, S. (1997). ‘Keepers of the Castle: Producers, Programmers and Music Selection.’ In T. O’Sullivan & Y. Jewkes (eds.). The Media Studies Reader. London [etc.]: Arnold.

  • Boone, W. (2008). Composing Playlists, Conducting Streams: The Life of Classical Music in the Internet Age (Master’s Thesis). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. (UMI 1454455)

 
  • Zacher, B. (2015, 07 May). Interview with Author.
 

Future-Proofing the Genius: Bach Online