What is the state of the classical music world today? How is it changing? Bachtrack’s annual survey of the numbers is as close as we can get to an answer – and this year we can report some unusual findings.
![Bachtrack: Classical Music Statistics 2023 [EN]](https://cdn.bachtrack.com/wfiles/350666-screenshot-2024-01-03-at-17-00-36.smaller.webp)
In 2023, Bachtrack listed 31,309 distinct events (some 4,000 more than the previous year). These comprise more than 16,000 concerts, 9,000 opera performances and almost 6,000 dance performances. This year, we have also been able to make assessments across the last ten years of data, since 2013. In assembling such a large sample, we are able to draw statistically significant conclusions about the classical music world and the transformations itʼs undergoing.
Contemporary music on the up
One notable finding over the past ten years has been the steady rise in programming of music by living composers. Worldwide, since 2013, contemporary music has risen from around 6% to 14% in our listings. This is a trend reflected in many individual locations: in the UK rising from 6% to 15%, and in the US rising from 7.5% to 20%. In some locations, such as Japan, Austria and France, there are comparatively fewer performances of contemporary music, but even in each of these locations, there is an observed rise.
However, while some musical periods are observing a rise, others are falling. In our UK listings, performances of Early and Baroque music have dropped from 20% to 15.5% over the period. A similar drop, from 13% to 6%, can be observed in the US. By contrast, in most European countries, performances of Early and Baroque music have remained steady, with numbers particularly strong in the Netherlands.
Women composers rising
The rise in performances of contemporary music has gone hand in hand with a rise in performances of music by women composers – and in particular, living women. Sofia Gubaidulina, Caroline Shaw, Unsuk Chin and Anna Clyne are all among the top 100 most-performed composers in 2023. Also appearing in the top 100 are Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn and Lili Boulanger. In 2023, 22 of the top 200 most-performed composers are women – up from only 2 in 2013.
In our listings, women make up 36 of the top 100 most-performed living composers, up from only 11 out of 100 in 2013. Women composers also comprise 7 out of the top 20 most-performed living composers – in 2013, there were none at all in the top 20.
Asked for their response to their composers seeing a significant rise in performance frequency, Boosey & Hawkes said: “Sofia Gubaidulina, Unsuk Chin, and Anna Clyne are three of the most important composers creating music today, their work cutting across different generations, cultures, and musical styles. We celebrate the classical music industry’s growing embrace of diverse voices, which has driven increased programming of vital music by living composers.”
A mixed picture for women conductors
In contrast to this marked rise in representation of women composers, the picture is more mixed for women conductors. In 2023, Andris Nelsons was again the busiest conductor of orchestral concerts, appearing 112 times in our listings. Despite 53 listed performances, the busiest woman conductor in our listings, Elim Chan, does not appear in the top 20. Of the top 100 busiest conductors (more than 26 listed performances), 14 are women. In 2013, there were only 4 women in the top 102 busiest conductors.
While women conductors are less busy than the men, is this an indication that they are also missing out on top jobs within the classical music industry? Of 102 orchestras around the world whose seasons we list, we were able to identify 95 principal conductors. Of these, only 7 were women. There are, of course, hundreds of orchestras across the globe, many which fall outside the scope of this sample. But a larger study, conducted in 2021 by Nathalie Krafft for La Maestra competition and academy, came to a similar conclusion: of 778 orchestras identified, 7.9% had a woman as principal conductor.
Are women conductors hitting a glass ceiling in a way that women composers aren’t? It is a possibility. It is also the case that there are a great many experienced women conductors working today, in larger numbers than in previous decades. There are also several vacant principal conductor positions at major orchestras around the world – including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony and the Seattle Symphony. Will any of these orchestras appoint a woman as principal?
Top works in 2023
Given his 150th anniversary, 2023 was a big year for Rachmaninov, with his Symphonic Dances topping the chart for most-performed concert work. Piano Concertos 2 and 3 also appear near the top of the list. Aside from Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, these were the only 20th-century works in the top 20 this year (unless one counts Ravel’s orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition).
Rachmaninov’s symphonies, though well-performed, did not displace Dvořák, Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky as top symphonists. Aside from Rachmaninov’s Second and Third Piano Concertos, the most-performed concertos this year were all violin concertos, by Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn and Beethoven. Ravel’s La Valse, which we reported as the most-performed work in 2022, is still popular (indeed, the composer’s most popular work), though in 2023 it fell outside the top 20.
Opera did not demonstrate nearly as much repertoire churn. The most-performed operas in 2023 are broadly similar to those from a decade ago. Meanwhile, in the dance world, The Nutcracker has an undisputed grip – in 2023 thanks in part to Cassie Kinoshi’s version supplementing the traditional orchestral ballet. Ballets to scores by Duke Ellington (Night Creature and Reflections in D) and Wynton Marsalis (For Four) were also much-performed in 2023, making it a notably successful year for Black composers in dance. The pioneering African-American choreographer Alvin Ailey is also the 5th most-performed choreographer in our 2023 listings.
But in a similar situation to that reported in 2022, women choreographers are facing something of an uphill struggle. Among the top 20 most frequently listed choreographers, there is only one woman (Sharon Eyal). Whether this situation will change in future remains to be seen.
Hot or not?
Observing trends over the past decade we can see that some composers are rising in popularity, while others are declining. Mahler has enjoyed a consistent rise in frequency of performance, with his works appearing almost twice as often in 2023 as they were in 2013. Another notable rise over the same period has been that of Kurt Weill, with performances of his works appearing 2.6 times more frequently in 2023 than in 2013.
Weill’s works are still in copyright in many places around the world, so this rise over the past decade shows a genuine increase in popularity, notably in Germany. Asked what might account for this increase in popularity, Ed Harsh of the Kurt Weill Foundation said: “Kurt Weill was an artist of high aspiration who lived in complex and volatile times. As political and social challenges mount in the contemporary world, the relevance and power of Weill’s music becomes ever more evident, as it has with the recent success of works such as Der Silbersee and Fantaisie symphonique.”
But while some composers have been enjoying an upswing since 2013, others are submerging somewhat. Elgar and Handel have both seen a gradual slump in popularity over the past ten years. And while some composers’ anniversaries, such as Ligeti’s, have caused a measurable bump in numbers of performances in 2023, for others, such as William Byrd, there is no observable change in frequency. The decline in numbers of performances of Early Music in the UK over the same period may be part of the context here.
Conclusions
Some aspects of the classical music world have observed marked change over the past ten years, particularly the numbers of performances of works by living and women composers. But other aspects of the sector demonstrate greater inertia. With the sector currently undergoing vast technological change – as physical media is displaced by streaming, and the energy expense of running large performance spaces grows – are audiences and artistic directors clinging to things they know, rather than taking risks? Time will tell.
This article is also available in Japanese.
