If you're the kind of weirdo who thinks classical music would never sully itself with any kind of popular culture... well, it's probably because you don't hear much classical music.
One only has to hear movie and video game soundtracks to appreciate how classical music impacts modern culture.
But what about something as abrasive and low brow as punk rock?
Well, one day, I was listening to the Velvet Underground. "The Black Angel's Death Song" came on. And my immediate thought was, "Wait a minute. This sounds more like an experimental classical song than a rock song."
Turns out I was right.
This particular song was deeply influenced by the classical composer La Monte Young. One only has to hear Young's composition "The Second Dream of the High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer" to see the connection. And if that doesn't convince you, VU member John Cale performed in Young's Theatre of Eternal Music before joining the Velvet Underground.
Consequently, La Monte Young is probably the most consequential composer in any genre upon the evolution of punk rock since his signature drones, sustained tones, dissonance, and repetition can still be heard in the genre now.
So is La Monte Young just a one-off, a rare classical guy who accidentally impacted the most unclassical of rock music?
Well, no. There's another source of classical, and that's through Karlheinz Stockhausen. He was an early experimenter who pioneered tape manipulation, feedback, and electronically generated sound.
Almost every punk band that engaged with synths, such as Cabaret Voltaire, were impacted by Stockhausen. Now some people might object and call Cabaret Voltaire post-punk rather than punk. But since they formed in 1973, if anything, they are a pre-punk band who had a seminal influence on punk itself, and you can hear that on their compilation "1974-1976".
Finally, the classical composers who are the most blatantly punk in ethos: Steve Reich and Philip Glass. These composers were an inspiration to artists as diverse as Brian Eno and David Byrne. But their most direct connection is with another classical composer, Glenn Branca. You see, Branca was a full participant in the seminal no wave scene, and it was Branca who imported Reich and Glass's minimalist techniques that became essential to bands like Sonic Youth.
Indeed, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth played in his guitar ensembles, as did musicians associated with Swans.
So while at first glance it seems punk rock has nothing to do with classical music, it seems to have everything to do with classical music.
But what's your opinion?
