Correction to the video: A few comments have pointed out that Art Tatum did not write Yesterdays, but rather Jerome Kern. In my defence, I don't have an encyclopaedic knowledge of jazz standards, but I thank my subscribers for bringing it to my attention. But here's an interesting philosophical question. Seeing as Art Tatum added so much of his own uniqueness and technique to his version of Yesterdays; at which point does a reworking of a jazz standard become its own thing, or something that wholly belongs to the jazz composer or jazz musician? We give composers credit for each version of the Folia they wrote, but at times jazz musicians do a lot more with standards than some composers did with the Folia. Just a thought, from a classical music point of view.

As an aspiring composer myself, I find the idea of combining jazz and classical to be an extremely alluring prospect. In my opinion, the classical world’s rejection of jazz is the leading factor as to why modern classical repertoire holds less than a fraction of the cultural relevance it did 100 years ago. I would be absolutely thrilled if you went into further detail on this subject in future videos; it’s a captivating topic.

Absolutely fantastic video. Barry Harris considered jazz music the 'next step' of classical music, and I've always tended to agree. Joe Hisashi's music with Studio Ghibli is another great example of jazz and classical languages fusing together, and that music is basically universally beloved. It feels very modern and also tangibly connected to music history. Anyways, again, great video!

I’m glad it’s becoming normal to take atonalism for “a phase” (possibly even the thing that justifiably most harmed concert-going) rather than the “inevitable final stage of elevated, educated music.” It’s a fulfilling conclusion that the renewal of classical music was instead back in its origins, folk music.

This reminds me a lot of Scruton’s writing on the tonal/atonal subject. If you haven’t read it already, you might be interested in this beautiful chapter he wrote, about what he believed was Adorno’s confusion, while offering folk music as the path forward for the classical world, emphasizing jazz and Slavic music examples as far as I can remember. I don’t recall him calling for an embrace in the sense you talked about, but he did argue for the valuing of jazz and other American genres, as opposed to the demeaning of them.

For me, Kapustin's work is the pinnacle of Classical-Jazz combination. His works (especially his 8 Concert Etudes) show beautiful, clearly jazz inspired elements whilst having touches of Classical Theory as well. For me, Kapustin is in a way, an opposite to Rachmaninoff; such that Rachmaninoff was a classical composer who used Jazz elements in his work, whilst Kapustin (at least I believe) was a Jazz musician who utilized cues of classical music in his works.

You only have to look at Mozart to see potential in Jazz harmony fusing with Classical. Mozart does 2 things almost all the time that are incredibly like Jazz music.
He'll often on the V chord in say C major, play the notes G and F in the left hand and then play B and E in the right hand. That's pretty much exactly a G13 chord (although the resolution of notes is much more strict and formulaic)
He'll also often plays a D# over a C major chord to then resolve it up to an E and this exactly the same blues-original idea in jazz of a minor third resolving up to a major third.

In Beethoven's 5th during the development section, he's briefly playing in F minor, and holding a pedal C note in the horn, he plays a neopolitan 6th chord whilst it's happening. So in modern jazz parlance, hearing it in isolation, it's a Gb add#4 (no 7 so it's not a #11), which is incredibly modern and film like in it's colour

Even Chopin's harmony is ridiculously Jazz-like in places. Loads of extended harmonies, chromatic plaining of chords, even in his Opus 10 Etude no.1 it has, what we would refer to as, tritone subs.

And let's not get into Bach's harmony! We'll be here all day.

10:18 That's exactly how I feel about (as someone who's more familiar with classical music). As much as I want to appreciate and enjoy jazz more, its "grammar" is different and incomprehensible to me. With classical music, I know what to expect. The well-established forms and structures (be it a sonata form, munet and trio, a suite, etc.) help me understand even unfamiliar pieces. When I listen to jazz, I am captivated and dazzled by the seemingly superhuman abilities to riff and improvise on the spot, but at the same time, at any given time I can't tell if we're in the beginning, middle, or end of a jazz piece because I don't understand its structure. I'm not saying this is bad and jazz has to change or anything like that. I'm just saying it becomes a barrier of entry for a novice like me. Thank you for the wonderful video.

The sweet jazz era of the early-to-mid 1930s is a fascinating period of music. Slower, more melancholic pieces played by thoughtful orchestra directors gave us what could be the most sophisticated era in pop music.
The styles of greats such as Ben Selvin, Guy Lombardo, Jack Denny, Richard Himber, etc. showed a perfect combination between the dynamism of jazz and the nuances and structure of classical music, yet still with a pop mindset.
Denny in particular usually featured piano duets which almost sound improvised, with gleaming glissandos and playfulness over a still quite discernable melody. The powerful vibrattos played by wind (either brass or brassless) instruments harmonising was also a very unusual detail of this era.

Even though I studied Jazz piano I always play Bach every day and I realized all the harmonic devices used in jazz are already in Bach's music, all that's happened is that they are presented in a different format that is all, for instance I play Bach's Allemande from the French suit in E flat major every day as a warm up exercise which contains arpeggios and melodic lines that are made up from major sevenths, minor sevenths, dominant sevenths diminished and augmented chords just to name a few it's a fantastic piece of music to learn by heart especially if you want to be able to improvise and play Jazz standards like Round Midnight, Over the Rainbow, or Smoke gets in your eyes, which is what's happened to the majority composers and musicians whether they be classical or jazz, smoke has got in their eyes and cotton wool in their ears.

I recently found out that Schoenberg completely changed his previous views on jazz music when he flew to America. He got to experience more in depth the music and meet the composers and musicians.
Adorno always refused to listen to jazz seriously and based his analysis on German bands that imitated American jazz.
Even in America, Adorno never wanted to listen to jazz seriously.
I deeply admire the onesty and the love for music of Schoenberg (even if I am not a fan of his music) and unfortunately I can not say the same for Adorno....
But the problem is not simply elitism but the whole avant-garde mentality of the time, that mantained that art should be divided into True Art manifesting revolutionary tendencies and vulgar kitsch.
I hope this mentality (not restricted ti classical music nor to music) Will Be left behind in the name of a more pluralistic, open-minded and critical mentality that avoids such ideological distinction and focuses on the advantages and the limits of different traditions

I have a similar feeling that 18th and 19th century improvisation practice has a lot in common with Jazz tradition. It's definitely something that I think classical education needs to rediscover, and perhaps with the help of Jazz artists.
On the other hand, I think that the divide between classical and jazz has created a lot of value. It can allow individuals to go deeper into their respective disciplines, and in some ways the blind spots of each are part of their charm. In a way, I think the increasingly popular idea of embracing all cultures simultaneously helps to erase what makes cultures unique.

Mingus and Zappa combined the two masterfully

As a Jazz musician I often find improvised solos that are partially inspired by classical music, specifically referencing motifs from famous pieces. In these instances, the soloist is essentially admiring classical phrases. People like Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, and Ahmad Jamal have all done this quite frequently.

This video misunderstands both the Jazz tradition and the avant-garde:

1. Schoenberg saw his music as inside the German tradition that had historically differentiated "art music" from popular and folkloric music traditions. There was a bourgeois tradition of art making and consuption. This tradition was in crisis at the end of the 19th century.

2. The criticism of the "Frankfurt School" is larger than culture. The video misses the point when does not point out the actual Adornian criticism of capitalism, and its forms of creating a "Cultural Industry" and using it to generate conformity and alienation in the capitalist world. Adorno's point isn't just about jazz (the most popular dance music of its time) it's about how capitalism tends to comodify art and use it to alienate the working class.

3. Jazz has a rich history of emacipating itself from being a product of mass consumption to an elevated art form. Bebop was a reaction to swing music for this very reason! The contradiction of black americans living at that time (and still are) creates and rejuvenates the art form.

4. Much of what happened with "serial composers" and the avant-garde in general in academia and the concert halls has to do with the cold war and the soviet position that art should be created having socialist realism as the main aesthetical guiding principle. The west then embrace the Avant-garde as a form of ideological opposition to the socialist block. Despite the general public not engaging with Avant-garde art at all.

5. Classical music has a long tradition of incorporating folkloric and popular elements to its own culture. Of course it'd happen with Jazz. Although I think it did not happen in academia more because of racism than anything else.

I think this is an excellent issue for discussion, but I feel the author misses the mark, in not engaging with the actual arguments of Adorno, as the author did not need to cite Adorno at all to make this point!

I believe that at least in the mid-century more credit could be given to both jazz and classical composers. Post-war era artists had this beautiful symbiosis of idea sharing. A great example would be Darius Milhaud, a classical composer inspired by Jazz, teaching Dave Brubeck, a jazz composer inspired by classical.

In this era we also see collaborations between Gil Evans and Miles Davis adapting Porgy and Bess and Concierto de Aranjuez. Bernstein’s West Side Story. The film composers of this era like Henry Mancini. John Coltrane records embrace a heavy degree of classical music theory. The way he viewed the circle of fifths was amazing.

Jazz composers of this era were also no strangers to Atonality Ornette Coleman and Charles Mingus to name a couple.

I totally agree that sometime in the last 30-40 years that relationship has since been broken and it is hard to understand why. One theory in my book is that there is now a struggle to survive and find meaning in an era where pop dominates the culture and both Jazz and Classical are working hard just to preserve their heritages.

I will also say that a similar video can be made regarding Electronic music and how there is absolutely no education for composition majors using the medium in their music unless that is specifically what they want to write which requires a separate major altogether and not every university offers it.

I think you should've mentioned the thrid stream movement of the 50s.
Jazz band leaders like Teo Marcero, Gunther Schuller and Bob Graettinger were experimenting with Schoenbergs and Webern's language.
Also Anthony Braxton, whose Music is in many respects a lot closer to the european post-war avant-garde than it is to jazz.

I actually think attaching a narrative to music makes it more profound. It's why I find music from animated films just as inspiring as any other kind of music, if not moreso.

As an aspiring composer who has played in wind bands, jazz bands and orchestras, I throughly enjoy using jazz rhythms and complex harmony with classical knowledge and styles in my music. It is an absolute tragedy that jazz and classical music hasn't stayed together in cannon, and I hope, at least through my own works, to help change that

This video beautifully expressed many of the sentiments I have held for a long time

George Gershwin: "hold my Rhapsody."