Galliardist
Major Contributor
It isn’t so easy..,Oxford Dictionary defines it as
"Serious music following long-established principles rather than a folk, jazz, or popular tradition."
Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words
The world's leading online dictionary: English definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more. A trusted authority for 25+ years!www.lexico.com
Larousse:
Se dit, par opposition à la musique folklorique, légère, de variétés, au jazz ou à la musique contemporaine, de la musique, des œuvres des musiciens composées dans le cadre de la tradition musicale occidentale.
As opposed to folk, light, variety music, jazz or contemporary music; music, works of musicians composed within the framework of the Western musical tradition.
Wikipedia has an entry too:
Art music (alternatively called classical music, cultivated music, serious music, and canonic music[1]) is music considered to be of high aesthetic value.[2] It typically implies advanced structural and theoretical considerations[3] or a written musical tradition.[4] In this context, the terms "serious" or "cultivated" are frequently used to present a contrast with ordinary, everyday music (i.e. popular and folk music, also called "vernacular music").[2]
"Art music" is mostly used to refer to music descending from the tradition of Western classical music. Musicologist Philip Tagg refers to the elitism associated with art music as one of an "axiomatic triangle consisting of 'folk', 'art' and 'popular' musics".[5] He explains that each of these three is distinguishable from the others according to certain criteria.[5] According to Bruno Nettl, "Western classical music" may also be synonymous with "art music", "canonic music", "cultivated music", "serious music", as well as the more flippantly used "real music" and "normal music".[1] Musician Catherine Schmidt-Jones defines art music as "a music which requires significantly more work by the listener to fully appreciate than is typical of popular music". In her view, "[t]his can include the more challenging types of jazz and rock music, as well as Classical".[6]
The term "art music" refers primarily to classical traditions (including contemporary as well as historical classical music forms) that focus on formal styles, invite technical and detailed deconstruction[3] and criticism, and demand focused attention from the listener. In strict western practice, art music is considered primarily a written musical tradition,[4] preserved in some form of music notation, as opposed to being transmitted orally, by rote, or in recordings (like popular and traditional music).[4][7]
Art music - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
The first two definitions exclude twelve tone composition which is usually put in the classical music category,
All three definitions exclude music which when composed did not sit in tbe classical category but have been appropriated - the dance music of Johann Straiss I, operetta, some movie scores, etc.
There’s also a blurring of the lines with more zeros elements of “world music” - do we include Asian composition for Western orchestra or not?
The term is modern, bends tbe intent of at least some of tbe composers who were writing dance music, sacred music, or striving for commercial hits.
Classical music is really defined not by the written word, but by a shifting group of gatekeepers- critics, scholars, those booming classical music events, and so on. We
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