NeoClassic - what's the difference between.......

I'm pretty sure you've linked the wrong Neoclassicism Torodd - that's the Neoclassical Classical Music of the likes of Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Arron Copland.

 

You need either the Neoclassical New Age : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoclassical_(New_Age) of people like Harold Budd, Mike Oldfield and Rick Wakeman

Or the Neoclassical Dark Wave: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoclassical_(Dark_Wave) of bands like Dead Can Dance, Dargaard, Amber Asylum and Elend...

 

Though probably not Neoclassical Metal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoclassical_metal of Malmsteen and a lot of Symphonic/Power Metal bands who sometimes get hit with this tag.

 

Blackmore's Night probably fits in one of those somewhere.

toroddfuglesteg wrote: What's the difference between NeoClassic and PA genres like Symphonic Prog and Zeuhl on the other side..... well, make that our side of the fence.  I am listening to Elend and Enid now. Elend is NeoClassical. Enid is Symphonic Prog. I am a loss to find much differences between them. Elend is probably more baroque and opera than Enid who is more keyboards and symphonic inclined. But that is not enough to erect a fence.  Is not the likes of Pink Mice, Ekseption, Trace, Clearlight Symphony and the three first ELP albums also NeoClassical (although I would label Pink Mice and Ekseption's output Airport Muzak) ? I am not asking this question to get Elend voted into the PA family. I just want to know the difference between NeoClassic and Symphonic Prog because this question is nagging me and keeping me awake when I am driving around in my car. Where is this fence ?

 

The classical definition of Neoclassical is more a backwards reference to an earlier style (originally used in Architecture to refer to the adoption of classical ancient Greek and Roman ornamentation and proportion) in the same way that "Classical" music was a backwards reference since the term was never applied at the time but was a much later (19th Century) definition - Bach never called himself a Classical Composer.

 

I think "Neoclassical" is a misapplication of the word in the same way as "Symphonic"outside the realms of a Symphony Orchestra is a misapplication - Symphonic Rock, Symphonic Prog and Symphonic Metal do not mean "in the form of a Symphony" nor do they mean "Harmonious in sound" - it just means "a bit Classical sounding" - though I will admit that some bands in the 70s did try and incorporate actual symphonic structures and forms into their music, most did not. And while they departed from the standard 8, 12,16 and 32-bar blues patterns, (for example - though it's more complicated than that), it still forms the basis of where they started from (lead, rhythm, bass, drums / back-beat / chord progressions / song structures) and is still remnant in most Symphonic Prog works (for example if you pare down Close To The Edge you get the 4 "movements" that typify a Symphony, but you also get three separate songs that are essentially simple rock songs in structure and a composite reprise [Seasons of Man]).

 

Ekseption (I'm not familiar with The Pink Mice) were never symphonic nor neoclassical IMO, but just did Jazz-Rock covers of trad. Classical (and early Psyche & Prog) tunes, following on from Emerson's beginnings with The Nice and early ELP - today they would be probably called Classical Crossover - Rick van der Linden got more (satisfyingly) "prog" with Trace.