December 18, 2023

We're taking a short break to recharge over the Christmas holidays but will return bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for 2024. We have much to look forward to, including sharing weekly classical music news, features, and hot takes.

Thanks for reading, and happy holidays from all your pals at Ludwig Van. 🏴‍☠️

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In this week’s email:

The big idea: Online content creators continue trend of choosing classical music
Piano moves: Icelandic pianist’s Goldberg Variations surpasses 20 million streams
Opera: Luminary composition teacher Nadia Boulanger’s only opera has US premiere
Round-up: Classical music albums of the year 2023
Cool thing of the week
Around the web: Human birth patterns, a miniature greenhouse, get over a perceived slight, plus more curious internet finds.

CLASSICAL CHARTZ

Christmas weighs into the Top Ten this week, with The Tenors and Christmas with the Tenors taking over the number 1 spot from Hauser’s Christmas. VOCES8 and A Choral Christmas moved up four spots to enter the Top Ten at 9.

Also coming up in the list to break into the Top Ten for the first time are Arvo Part’s Tractus and André Rieu’s Jewels of Romance. Canadian stalwarts Bruce Liu, Angèle Dubeau and La Pietà, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s work on the Maestro soundtrack drops by just one to accommodate the seasonal fare.

For the complete top 20, tune into Classical Chartz with the New Classical FM’s Mark Wigmore every Saturday from 3-5 p.m.

THE BIG IDEA

Online Content Creators Continue Trend of Choosing Classical Music

A new report from Epidemic Sound indicates that online content creators are still opening up to using classical music for their digital projects on a record-setting basis. The Swedish company’s year-end report, 2023 Sound of the Internet, indicates that the use of classical music tracks grew by 80% year over year from 2022 to 2023.

Traditionally, Western classical music lovers typically associate their beloved genre with the concert hall, another atmospheric venue, and live performance. But, the reality is that much of the music we hear on a daily basis is attached to online content.

Creating music for online content creation is a vast market that is growing despite the lag between international copyright laws and the realities of digital life.

What Is Epidemic Sound?

Epidemic Sound is one of several services that offer music for the vast online content creation market. Users can pay to use tracks owned by Epidemic Sound (i.e. with no royalty conflict), and not surprisingly, the company specializes in sync licensing, or licensing music created for videos and films. However, some users also come for the playlists, which are extensive and exclusive.

The ship has already sailed when it comes to the use of such services — for the vast majority of online content creators, they offer access to affordable original music.

The business model for Epidemic Sound includes upfront payment for the original artists. Epidemic buys the tracks upfront, and streaming revenues are split on a 50/50 basis.

It’s not your father’s royalty-paying system of music composition, in other words, but it does pay the original creator while still making it easy for the online world to produce content.

While it’s just one of multiple music services, its numbers make the report results significant. That includes:

26 million YouTube and TikTok videos that use music from the company’s catalogue;
That translates into 30 billion views of the 100 most popular video tracks from 2023 on YouTube alone, which represents a 50% increase over 2022;
An average of 40 million plays/views per day of tracks that use music from its catalogue through music streaming platforms;
Seen another way, 2.5 billion views per day of video tracks on YouTube and TikTok that incorporate music from Epidemic’s catalogue.

The Report

It’s the second year that the company has shared its usage data in the form of a report. The figures come from an analysis of metadata of user-generated content on YouTube and Tiktok to generate overall figures that they compared with their proprietary data.

Classical music remained in the top three fastest growing genres, and was seventh overall worldwide when it came to most frequently used types of music. Epidemic’s own figures showed a 40% increase in classical music downloads between 2022 and 2023.

Along with the growth of classical music, still the fastest rising genre, inspirational music saw a whopping 300% year-over-year increase on YouTube. Epidemic saw an 180% year-over-year increase in inspirational music downloads.

“Last year, we witnessed a remarkable surge in the popularity of classical music among our users, and it’s no surprise that this trend continues to grow. What’s particularly intriguing is the parallel rise of inspirational music,” said Epidemic Sound CEO and Co-Founder Oscar Höglund.

“Our observations indicate that these genres are no longer merely background scores. Instead, they have evolved into a means of crafting immersive environments that resonate with the human spirit. For content creators, this surge opens up an exciting opportunity to explore and experiment with these genres.”

The report indicates a search for happiness and positivity, hope and dreaminess as desired qualities that content creators are looking for — not surprising in a troubled world.

You can read the whole report [HERE]. — AW

TOUR DE HEADLINES

(L-R) Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim (Courtesy photos)

Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim Awarded France's Légion d'Honneur — Pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim and pianist Martha Argerich were awarded France's Légion d'Honneur, with Barenboim receiving the Grand Cross and Argerich named a Commander. Both originally from Buenos Aires, they have shared a lifelong friendship and have contributed significantly to the music world. | The Violin Channel

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Builds New Music Venue — Coney Island, a historic amusement park in Cincinnati, will permanently close at the end of 2023. In its place, a new music venue is planned to be developed.| wcpo.com

André 3000’s “New Blue Sun” Models How Classical Music Can Engage New Audiences — André 3000's album "New Blue Sun" demonstrates how classical music can engage new audiences. The album, featuring improvisational pieces without lyrics and various instruments including flute, showcases André's creativity and suggests new ways for classical music to connect with contemporary listeners. | I Care If You Listen

PIANO MOVES

Víkingur Ólafsson. (Courtesy Photo)

Icelandic Pianist’s Goldberg Variations Surpasses 20 Million Streams

Deutsche Grammophon announced Víkingur Ólafsson’s recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations has been streamed over 20 million times.

What’s Up: This week, the recording label Deutsche Grammophon announced in a press release that Víkingur Ólafsson’s 2023 recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations has been streamed over 20 million times. The album was released in October, achieving the Icelandic pianist pop star status as far as classical music streaming numbers are concerned.

Refresher: Víkingur Ólafsson, 39, grew up in Reykjavík before moving to New York City to study at the Juilliard School. He has performed with countless orchestras around the world including the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2016, he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon (DG). His albums with DG, including Philip Glass Piano Works (2017), Johann Sebastian Bach (2018), Debussy Rameau (2020), Mozart & Contemporaries (2021) and From Afar (2022), have been streamed over 600 million times.

Digging Deeper: This season, Ólafsson is focusing solely on Bach’s Goldberg Variations, which he will perform 88 times worldwide over the course of the year. Ólafsson describes the piece as “like a life cycle,” in which he revels in the individuality of each of Bach’s variations. This differs from how Glenn Gould played the piece in his 1981 recording, in which Gould sought stylistic cohesiveness within Bach’s 30 variations. Fans of Gould’s may enjoy hearing Ólafsson’s very different take. — SS

IN MEMORIAM

Nadia Boulanger (Photo Archives Centre International Nadia Boulanger, Paris)

Luminary Composition Teacher Nadia Boulanger’s Only Opera Has US Premiere

Catapult Opera in New York City will stage Nadia Boulanger’s La ville morte.

What’s Up: Catapult Opera in New York City recently announced it will present Nadia Boulanger’s only opera, La ville morte, in 2024. The presentation will be the US premiere of Boulanger’s work, and will be presented as a co-production with the Greek National Opera.

Refresher: Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) is best known as composition teacher to many of the 20th century's starriest composers, including Philip Glass, Elliott Carter, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Grażyna Bacewicz and Quincy Jones. Yet, she was an accomplished composer and conductor in her own right. Boulanger herself studied composition with Gabriel Fauré and composed many orchestral, vocal, chamber and piano works. She was the first woman to conduct many major symphonies, including the BBC, New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Her opera, La ville morte (1910), was a collaboration with the pianist and composer Raoul Pugno.

Digging Deeper: Nadia Boulanger had a gift for supporting and encouraging other composers. These included her many students, her sister Lili Boulanger, and her romantic and artistic partner, Raoul Pugno. Some believe that as Lili and Pugno died, Nadia lost the will to continue creating and promoting her own works. Bravi to these two companies for continuing to support Boulanger’s important music. — SS

ROUND-UP

Classical Music Albums Of The Year 2023

Album of the Year? There’s quite a few.

Let’s start with the ones that got away.

I’m in love with the Goldberg Variations by Vikingur — he seems to have dropped that long Icelandic surname — and have listened to them at least half a dozen times. I didn’t review the release when new because it was swamped with critical hyperbole and I had little to add. I love this disc (DG).

The Doric string quartet’s new Beethoven cycle is brilliantly programmed. The first double-album contains quartets from different periods of the composer’s life, neatly counterposed. This is a walk with Beethoven through his creative life. Can’t wait for the next instalment (Chandos).

Yuja Wang’s capture of four Rachmaninov concertos and the Paganini Variations in a single concert made headlines for its athleticism. Beneath the attention-seeking lies some sensitive musicianship (DG). Boris Giltburg’s set with the Brussels Philharmonic is warmer, more contemplative (Naxos).

I got my Vaughan Williams fix from the Royal Liverpool Phil’s dance album of Job and other bits, leagues apart from Strictly (Onyx). And I cannot resist Kurt Weill’s Die Propheten, despite Franz Werfel’s leaden polemics (Capriccio).

Among the ones I did review, Semyon Bychkov’s Czech Philharmonic account of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony joins the front rank of penetrative interpretations, wondrously performed (Pentatone). The last lifetime recording of the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho pulled heartstrings I didn’t know I had (BIS). Anthony McGill’s melding of Brahms sonatas and American music was memorably affecting (Cedille) and I was happy to spend time with the long-neglected Cesar Franck symphony in D minor (Alpha).

But when push comes to stop-wasting-my-time, there were two albums of 2023 that will stand every test of time. One was the farewell gift of the Emerson Quartet, a dazzling menu of Schoenberg, Berg, Hindemith and Chausson that no other ensemble could have conceived or pulled off — and with Barbara Hannigan doing the vocal bits. You won’t believe what you hear, and you really won’t want to miss it (Alpha).

That said, my album of the year is … Fabio Luisi’s Nielsen set with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the most idiomatic and immersive account of the six symphonies we have ever heard on record — and that includes Bernstein, Blomstedt and other epic forerunners. Luisi and his Danes just get it. Nothing more to be said. Get it (DG).

And have a very happy festive season. — NL

QUIZ

Nothing says Monday like a mini-crossword.

AROUND THE WEB

📅 On this day: Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker premieres in 1892

🌿 Art: Artist builds a miniature greenhouse

👶 Interesting: A close look at human birth patterns: Why are so many babies born around 8 am?

😠 How to: Get over a perceived slight and get on with your life.

🎤 Concert: Audience becomes the choir in Rome

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COOL THING OF THE WEEK

This LEGO set depicts a quaint, bustling seaside village scene inspired by the opera "Peter Grimes." The detailed set features a two-story building with a sign that reads "The Boar," complete with a brick facade and a rowboat in the foreground.

Shut up and take my money. The catch? This is AI generated. Womp womp.

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