Who listens to any classical music that was composed in the last 100 years?
At some point there just is no more room for anything really knew.
It’s virtually impossible at this point to do anything with rock music that hasn’t already been done.
I wouldn’t say that, necessarily. There are more ways to combine notes than there are stars in the sky, seriously
It is just that nobody has figured out a new way yet.
I agree. It’s all been done.
In addition, if there was anything new to be done, no one has put in the time and practice to see that it was done properly anyway. It’s a lost cause.
I have had the great privilege of growing up with rock since the 60's, and playing in rock bands from 1965 onward to the present. While always an avocation not a vocation, it's nevertheless been the single constant in my life as relationships and jobs and homes have come and gone.
And sadly, I have to agree that the section of musical space/time occupied by rock has pretty much all been explored, charted, composed, played, and in many cases, played to death. Hard to imagine what a truly new rock innovation would be, and I don't see anybody coming up with one.
So our job is to keep the existing body of music alive by continuing to perform it as long as there's anybody interested in listening to it. Eventually those folks will decrease in number, and another musical era will close.
Fortunately for me, I'll probably be gone by then. I intend to keep playing as long as my fingers work and my brain can control them. But all things come to an end eventually.
The best "classical" composers are all doing film & TV soundtracks -- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; The Godfather; Conan the Barbarian; Starship Troopers; Game of Thrones; Mulholand Drive.
Aside from obvious answers like Shostakovich, I'd point out that movies and TV shows are loaded with recently written classical music scores.
It’s virtually impossible at this point to do anything with rock music that hasn’t already been done.
Oh I disagree with that. There is infinite variation. Saying there's no more room for anything really new is like the guy who said we should shut down the patent office at the turn of the 20th century because everything had already been invented.
I do. All the time.