The Man Who Made Musicology Cool: Alex Ross

Alex Ross, music critic of the New Yorker and underground beloved of wannabe cool musicologists everywhere, should be on a required reading list somewhere. Of all the introverted idealists who wax poetic about the rebirth of popularity of “classical” music (I’d use another term if it was as recognizable), he a rare exception in that he avoids all appearances of snobbery. Perhaps his Harvard education releases him from the confines of an esoteric vocabulary? Hard to say.

I like Alex Ross’s writing because it’s interesting. There are far too many music writers who are more interested in flaunting their own musicological mastery than entertaining their audience. Ross is not one of these. Abundant biographical information about him is not available, but one can surmise from his writings that a childhood passion for classical music provided a foundation for his current command of the subject.

Ross was exposed to popular music while working as a radio announcer in college and it is perhaps this experience which was most valuable in making him able to communicate with audiences of all musics today or, more importantly, audiences who listen to many types of music. So many musicologists today are more or less locked into a rigid structure of research interests and topics. Most of my professors who lecture on eighteenth century opera will not be teaching classes on the ska movement any time soon, although they arguably of similar relevance. Ross’s writing is peppered with insightful tidbits that lend a human and often humorous element to otherwise bland historical events. And he does it without skewing the facts; although Beethoven isn’t necessarily “cool” today, he was a fiesty guy back in the day. Thus, Ross’s greatest strength is his accessibility. His pieces are concise, clear, witty, and informative without the sandpaper dryness of music textbooks. Grout could have learned a thing or two from Mr. Ross.

Honestly, I’m a little jealous of this guy. He managed to acquire more knowledge of traditional musicology as a child than most of us will in our adult lives (this is speculative, but his writings suggest a mastery of the subject beyond that provided by a college education) and then, at the age when some people first put down heavy metal in search of “art” music, became a fan first of punk music, and then of pop music as a whole.  Today, he is a fan of all types of music, and compares various genres freely.

Ross is the rare adult who is equally able to defend the validity of Justin Timberlake, fourteenth century motets, and radical serialism without embarrassment. Perhaps somewhere, in this abyss between wine and cheese cocktail parties and pot-reeking mosh pits lies a brighter future for music – unlabled.

Alex Ross maintains an active blog at www.therestisjustnoise.com