Its legitimacy has been much debated online and in print over the last decade or two, but the record sales, international tours, and huge streaming numbers tell the real story. Neoclassical and/or classical crossover, and classical pop covers, are here to stay.
What was once an oddity has become its own genre. It’s impossible to gauge the full extent of its popularity from album sales or even online streams alone. Social media has fuelled a great deal of the current wave of neoclassical and classical pop covers.
Classical Crossover vs Neoclassical
Is there a significant difference between the music that you’d find under either of these categories today? Chances are the average listener would say not.
Classical crossover takes distinct features of classical music and puts them into the context of pop, or vice versa. For example, a singer with operatic vocals and a string quartet could be belting out the latest Taylor Swift hit — or playing a Bach fugue with a synthesized makeover. The idea is to create a new sounds inspired by Western classical idioms, which may also include elements of pop and other genres of music.
Today’s neoclassical music is not to be confused with the Neoclassicism of the early 20th century. That earlier trend looked to pare the romanticism of the day down to earlier, (seen as purer), precepts and sounds. Contemporary neoclassical artists are inspired by the classical repertoire to compose their own music.
Neoclassical music blends the idioms of traditional Western classical music with modern genres and styles. The sound may be reminiscent of earlier styles, but in the end, the distinction doesn’t matter to its many, many fans.
Classical Pop Covers
Netflix’s Bridgerton series became known for the classical pop covers that characterize its soundtrack, and while it’s not exactly a new phenomenon, it seems to have added impetus to a trend that’s continued to the present.
Social media, and TikTok in particular, has raised the profile of many classical music artists. Many of the tracks from TikTok Classics — memes & viral hits, a Warner Classics release from 2022, racked up well over 300,000 streams. The social media platform regularly hosts #TikTokClassical events that garner millions of streams.
Classical Crossover/Neoclassical/Classical Pop Artists
Many classical crossover artists begin with strictly classical music training, gradually expanding their sound and repertoire. Some use amplification and other electronic techniques to create a sound that’s individual and expressive.
The Essential Classical Crossover playlist on Spotify is a good place to begin to get familiar with the genre and some of its top artists.
Superstars of the crossover genre include Charlotte Church, with more than 10 million album sales, and Josh Groban, with more than 24 million, Sarah Brightman with more than 30 million, and Andrea Bocelli, who tops out at over 80 million album sales
Celtic Woman is another ensemble in what can be called the old guard of the classical crossover genre. The all-woman Irish ensemble was formed in 2004 initially for a one-time event, but after repeated airings of the concert, their popularity led to tours and recording contracts. The group has sold more than 6 million albums to date.
On the neoclassical side, you can read our LvT profiles of Alexandra Stréliski here, and Toronto’s Ron Lopata here.
Sofiane Pamart is currently burning up the charts with his release Noche. The French-Moroccan pianist has created his own style with an unlikely sounding combination of Western classical and hip-hop. The classically trained pianist graduated with a gold medal from the Conservatoire National de Lille. Later, he became the pianist of choice for popular artists. Sofiane built a reputation in the music industry with a string of award-winning collaborations on rap albums before beginning to release his own contemporary classical work. Online streams of his music number in the tens of millions.
Danish artist Agnes Obel is billed simply as a singer-songwriter, however her piano-driven pieces are atmospheric and creatively ambitious. Her music is lush, and often incorporates unexpected instrumentation. In her song Familiar, for example, she sings a duet with an electronically enhanced “male” version of her own voice. Her fans know to expect the unexpected in albums often driven by concepts.
Jóhann Gunnar Jóhannsson (1968 to 2018) was an Icelandic composer whose signature style combined electronics with traditional orchestration. He wrote a great deal of work for TV, film, theatre and dance, and began to release solo albums in 2002.
Toronto’s String From Paris, formed from a group of classically trained string players, was established in 2022, and has seen a meteoric rise in the music industry. The ensemble’s blend of classical and classical pop covers has won them legions of fans, and their posts routinely garner tens of thousands of views. It’s not only fans who’ve noticed; last summer, they played as part of Lauryn Hill & Fugees 25th anniversary tour.
In the end, after all the debates and pearl-clutching by purists, Aaron Paris of Strings from Paris says it best in a statement from their website:
“By creating spaces in which musicians can freely explore classical, hip-hop, R&B, pop, and other styles, we hope to create a classical culture that allows all creators to thrive in any role and any genre in the music industry.”
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