John van Rhein writes that a unifying idea in classical music just isn’t as important as a unifying commitment to bring the form back to prominence: “Rather than worry about Big Ideas and where they’re coming from, let’s create the societal conditions that allow many schools of composition to flourish and composers to do their best work… Being reasonably conversant with classical music, its traditions and history used to be considered one of the marks of an educated person. No longer… No wonder our symphony orchestras are going in for spoon-feeding [audiences.] Daniel Barenboim said it best: ‘Music has lost a large part of its place in society.’ Full stop.”