Composing Capital: Classical Music in the Neoliberal Era [Hardcover]

The familiar old world of classical music, with its wealthy donors and ornate concert halls, is changing. The patronage of a wealthy few is being replaced by that of corporations, leading to new unions of classical music and contemporary capitalism. InComposing Capital, Marianna Ritchey lays bare the appropriation of classical music by the current neoliberal regime, arguing that artists, critics, and institutions have aligned themselves—and, by extension, classical music itself—with free-market ideology. More specifically, she demonstrates how classical music has lent its cachet to marketing schemes, tech firm-sponsored performances, and global corporate partnerships. As Ritchey shows, the neoliberalization of classical music has put music at the service of contemporary capitalism, blurring the line between creativity and entrepreneurship, and challenging us to imagine how a noncommodified musical practice might be possible in today’s world.

Marianna Ritcheyis assistant professor of music history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Introduction: Music and Neoliberalism
ONE Innovating Classical Music
TWO “Indie” Individualism
THREE Opera and/as Gentrification
FOUR Intel Beethoven: The New Spirit of Classical Music
Conclusion: Music against Capitalism

"Music is no longer to be listened to in and for itself, therefore classical music in Beethoven and Babbitt’s sense is dead. Ritchey’s interesting reflections . . . on the future of music criticism, and the potential for music outside capitalism, offer no way back."

"According to Spotify, I streamed almost 400 genres this year, although I didn’t know that many existed. (Spotify claims the existence of over 1,400-plus, including eccentricities like ‘abstracto’—unhelpfully describelÓ*