Tarnished Gold: Classical Music in America

A few articles have appeared recently regarding the subject of the health of classical music (or more broadly, the fine arts) in America. These include “Classical Music’s New Golden Age,” by Heather Mac Donald, in the City Journal and “The Decline of the Audience,” by Terry Teachout, in Commentary.1 These articles appeared around the time of my Summer 2010 Academic Questionspiece, “Diminuendo: Classical Music and the Academy,” in which I discussed the problematic position of classical music in the Academy. In my article, I felt it necessary to place the position of music in the Academy in relationship to that of music in society-at-large. As these other articles also discuss the nature of music in larger society, it seems appropriate to respond to the positions expressed, to explain and try to understand their differences or commonality with