I didn't really understand the premise of the article. Is the author talking about classical music, the genre that lasted about a century and got displaced by r

I didn't really understand the premise of the article. Is the author talking about classical music, the genre that lasted about a century and got displaced by romanticism, or is he lumping all music done using traditional western instruments and musical ensembles in the same bag? If it's the former, then certainly someone should have told him that the genre passed its peak more than two centuries ago. If it's the latter, I'm surprised that he hasn't visited a theater recently, or any of the concert halls that are frequently sold out when they play popular successes such as Williams. To be honest, I suspect the real issue with the author is that his main line of business is to write about politics, and that this article is no exception.