# Who is the Mozart of the Future? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 23, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281 "2014-10-23T19:21:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/21 "2014-10-23T23:55:23Z")
It’s impossible to tell. Bach was almost forgotten after all. ---
**Author:** ![Cephkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cephkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cephkiller)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/22 "2014-10-24T00:25:01Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Here’s the problem with threads like this: > > 1. Few respondents if any to these threads have anything close to a truly informed, knowledgeable opinion about Mozart’s music and why it is considered great. > (By the way, Mozart’s greatness has nothing to do with his having being a child prodigy. There are lots of those, even today.) > 2. Few respondents if any to these threads have anything close to a truly informed, knowledgeable opinion about the many stupendously talented living composers working today are who are still writing “art,” “concert,” “serious” music, as Mozart did. Yes, you _can_ still make a living writing art, as opposed to commercial or popular, music. > 3. Comparing an 18th century classical composer to a 20th or 21st century commercial pop artist is more egregiously illogical than comparing apples to oranges. Different milieu. Different sensibilities. Different experiences. Different purposes. Radically different. 1. Perhaps a better question would have been “What, if any, popular musical artist of the 20th century will be remembered fondly in 200 years?” I chose the title I did because I thought it would be more interesting. 2. I’m aware of “serious” music. In this thread, I am more interested in the answer to the question as I rephrased it. 3. I’m aware of this problem with the question. Again, please refer to the question as I rephrased it. Apparently a more specific thread title would have headed off some of these criticisms. I suppose I was trying to be too cute with the title. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Cephkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cephkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cephkiller)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/23 "2014-10-24T00:29:25Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’d bet on it being McCartney and his guys, maybe Lennon and the boys, over the Beatles per se. One of those two men will be remembered as an individual the way kings are remembered for building pyramids. That’s an interesting take on it. I wonder, if this happened, would Lennon’s more “serious” perspective be admired or mocked? Conversely, would McCartney’s more light-hearted view be regarded as self-awareness and therefore more highly regarded? The latter is my 21st century take on it. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/24 "2014-10-24T01:53:47Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > One of the defining qualities of Mozart to me is that he was a prodigy. > > Stevie Wonder was a prodigy and few would deny his talent, but can anyone think of somebody else who began VERY young and kept going strong into their 30s or after? (I can think of a few actors who made the jump, but not modern musicians.) Though it’s as a vocalist rather than for composition, Michael Jackson fits the bill. He was signed to a label (as the star of the Jackson 5) when he was 9 or so and he released two hit records in his thirties. ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/25 "2014-10-24T02:12:02Z")
My first thought when I read the thread title was Stevie Wonder, but Like DrCube and Sampiro beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![seoulsoul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@seoulsoul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seoulsoul)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/26 "2014-10-24T02:34:26Z")
I think a case could be made for Miles Davis, besides being a great musician and composer, he is also in large part responsible for creating several radical changes in jazz. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/27 "2014-10-24T04:27:21Z")
Philip Glass, of course. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/28 "2014-10-24T04:27:49Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > It’s impossible to tell. Bach was almost forgotten after all. Exactly. All we can do is guess. I nominate George Gershwin. Or The Beatles. Art Tatum. But for all we know the 20th Century music most revered 300 years from now will be Iron Butterfly, or The Chipmunks. Or (God forbid) Yoko. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/29 "2014-10-24T05:24:17Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Here’s the problem with threads like this: > > 1. Few respondents if any to these threads have anything close to a truly informed, knowledgeable opinion about Mozart’s music and why it is considered great. > (By the way, Mozart’s greatness has nothing to do with his having being a child prodigy. There are lots of those, even today.) > 2. Few respondents if any to these threads have anything close to a truly informed, knowledgeable opinion about the many stupendously talented living composers working today are who are still writing “art,” “concert,” “serious” music, as Mozart did. Yes, you _can_ still make a living writing art, as opposed to commercial or popular, music. > 3. Comparing an 18th century classical composer to a 20th or 21st century commercial pop artist is more egregiously illogical than comparing apples to oranges. Different milieu. Different sensibilities. Different experiences. Different purposes. Radically different. 1. We’re assuming that your great, great, great grandchild is listening to music, the way we (or Mozart) listen to music. Other than as a music historian or a degree dissertation, I doubt that our distant descendants will simply listen to music, without engaging other senses. Besides, Mozart was unique. Literally. ---
**Author:** ![Rosapants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@Rosapants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rosapants)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/30 "2014-10-24T07:00:25Z")
Binaural beats will probably be the new ‘Mozart’ music since we are all becoming like robots lol ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/31 "2014-10-24T09:10:57Z")
If we stick to the question as **Cephkiller** rephrased it (thus leaving aside modern and contemporary classical composers), I’d say **The Beatles** > [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Philip Glass, of course. You’re kidding, right? There are litterally dozens of 20th and 21st century composers whose works dwarf his stuttering elevator muzak. Even **Arvo Pärt** is more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/32 "2014-10-24T09:23:53Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > It’s impossible to tell. Bach was almost forgotten after all. Absolutely. Many artists/musicians/authors suffer the vagaries of fads and fashions. Just because a musician is unpopular today does not mean he will remain unpopular in decades or centuries to come. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/33 "2014-10-24T10:47:21Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > Absolutely. Many artists/musicians/authors suffer the vagaries of fads and fashions. Just because a musician is unpopular today does not mean he will remain unpopular in decades or centuries to come. Hmmm, I’m not sure about that. It is true that some composers, including **Bach** , were rediscovered after decades of neglect, but usually it’s rather unlikely. And in the case of Bach, that neglect was relative: **Mozart** knew about his music and so did **Beethoven**. Think about it: there have been thousands of composers since the Middle Ages. How many of these are played on a regular basis? 10-15% perhaps. 20% at most. The classical era lasted roughly from 1750 to 1800. Everybody knows about **Mozart** and **Beethoven**. A lot of people have heard of **Haydn**. And after that? Unless you’re interested in classical music, chances are the names **Abel, Cimarosa, Dittersdorf, Vanhal, Hoffmeister, Paisiello, Boccherini, Gossec, Méhul** will not ring any bells. Yet, all of them were excellent composers. Just not great enough to be remembered by the general public. The ratio is even worse for popular songwriters (except now were talking about hundreds of thousands of people). The thing is, once a composer has been forgotten, he will remain so. And usually for perfectly valid reasons (good but not great or innovative body of works for example). Some will be remembered by niche specialists and scholars. Only an extremely select few will get a second chance. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/34 "2014-10-24T11:50:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Think about it: there have been thousands of composers since the Middle Ages. How many of these are played on a regular basis? Hey, a thousand years from now, John Cage’s 4’33" will still be getting play. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/35 "2014-10-24T12:30:20Z")
For sure. But will people remember who wrote it 😃 ? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/36 "2014-10-24T13:35:40Z")
In terms of who will be discussed in a few hundred years, I would really argue for **Louis Armstrong**. As we discussed in a recent thread where **ThelmaLou** asked about Armstrong’s contributions to jazz: > **[Louis Armstrong's muscial contrubutions to jazz](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734812)** > > I’ve been watching the Ken Burns’ series on Jazz, and I would recommend it to everyone, even if you’re not particularly interested in music. It’s some great history and give some deep (and troubling) background on the civil rights issues that are... The innovation of jazz was a major rule change in music - it changed how rhythm was understood and played. Any discussion of the evolution of music would point to this as a pivotal period, an important musical genre (jazz), with Armstrong as one of the most prominent creators and leaders. Per that thread, he is Bach-like in his position. As others have stated, Bach had fallen out of the mainstream, but was known by music people. Armstrong is certainly that well known and understood for his place by most semi-pro and pro musicians I know. I honestly think that the evolution of Rock n’ Roll out of Rn’B, country, gospel and the blues will be seen as that: an evolution. Elvis marked the birth of the Teenager as an important cultural demographic more than the music shifted in a huge way from where it was going. But The Beatles - as the embodiment of the emergence of the studio as its own musical tool and the pop single and album as its medium - that was revolutionary in a Bach and Armstrong sorta way. All IMHO as I noodle this through, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/37 "2014-10-24T14:29:34Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Here’s the problem with threads like this: > > 1. Few respondents if any to these threads have anything close to a truly informed, knowledgeable opinion about Mozart’s music and why it is considered great. > (By the way, Mozart’s greatness has nothing to do with his having being a child prodigy. There are lots of those, even today.) > 2. Few respondents if any to these threads have anything close to a truly informed, knowledgeable opinion about the many stupendously talented living composers working today are who are still writing “art,” “concert,” “serious” music, as Mozart did. Yes, you _can_ still make a living writing art, as opposed to commercial or popular, music. > 3. Comparing an 18th century classical composer to a 20th or 21st century commercial pop artist is more egregiously illogical than comparing apples to oranges. Different milieu. Different sensibilities. Different experiences. Different purposes. Radically different. You make some good points, but in a somewhat confrontational manner, which (IMHO) isn’t necessary. I thought about the question, and I agree that it’s apples/oranges. For one thing, most pop music is, by design, ephemeral. It’s a product of time and place and loses some of its impact outside of that context (of course, there are exceptions, and the Beatles have been mentioned often enough in this thread).\* That’s not a putdown of pop music, it’s just an observation of what pop music is supposed to be. As to what composers in the classical field will be remembered like Mozart, well, way too soon to tell, I think. Certainly too soon for me to tell, anyway. - I wonder if Schoenberg/Webern/Berg will be thought of as the classical equivalents of the Beatles? Doing classical music in an entirely new way, just like the Beatles did with pop? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/38 "2014-10-24T14:31:44Z")
Elliot smith - don’t laugh, I am 100% serious. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/39 "2014-10-24T14:42:04Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > - I wonder if Schoenberg/Webern/Berg will be thought of as the classical equivalents of the Beatles? Doing classical music in an entirely new way, just like the Beatles did with pop? All IMHO of course. To the extent that the study of any genre involves how it emerged, how it’s rules evolved, then how those rules get broken, twelve-tone approaches will need to be covered. But unless they demonstrate much greater popularity, or ending up influencing future genres in a far more significant way, they will not dominate the conversation. Similar to Free Jazz - important, rule-breaking niche, but Ornette Coleman will not be a dominant part of the conversation vs. Louis Armstrong when it comes to jazz. that is NO slam on Mr. C - just trying to frame what I am seeing in the big picture. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281/40 "2014-10-24T14:44:16Z")
I don’t think it’ll be just one performer or band that’ll be remembered. There’ll be a music period defined that will basically encompass the latter half of the 20th century, and there will be 5-6 salient acts, in much the same way that Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Handel and Mozart were all more or less contemporaries. To that end, I’d think that the Beatles/McCartney, Michael Jackson, Elvis, Ray Charles and maybe the Rolling Stones will be the acts that endure like that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-mozart-of-the-future/702281.md?page=3)