Klarinet Archive - Posting 000170.txt from 1998/08

From: Janet McNaught <mcnaught@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Clarinet/Young People
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 1998 07:12:49 -0400

Roger
Please clarify your argument here.

>> I believe that people do not enjoy classical music because they have not
been educated or trained to appreciate what it is - a very complex musical
form. Rap is not complex, nor is it lasting. >>

Are you saying that you have to be educated in music to appreciate the
classical form? This leads to some really elitist conclusions, and some
really bad music being passed off as good under the guise of "you just don't
understand it - you are not well enough educated". This happens in my
business (fine art) all the time - some questionable art being accepted by
the museum elite, and not "understood" by the general public.

If you mean exposure to classical music, not formal education or training,
then I'm in complete agreement.

>I said
>that people don't appreciate it because they don't understand it....and
>they don't understand it because they have not been educated in it.

Would you change that to "exposed to it", not "educated in it".

>There could be slack-jawed yokels who love
>> classical and hate popular music and there could be high class CEOs who
>> have an affinity for popular, detesting classical.
>
>They are the exception to the rule (the "slack-jawed yokels" that is).
>Name ten!

Aside from the obvious discomfort with the characterization of "slack jawed
yokel", and assuming that you are referring to people who do not have
advanced education, I can name a lot more than ten! In our community, we
have an extremely successful opera company - and it is no coincidence that
we also have a significant Italian population, immigrant, first and second
generation. Many of the immigrants and first generation Italians are not
well educated - ie. no high school graduation. Opera is the music they are
familiar with, what they listen to at home, what they grew up with. This is
NOT education, this is exposure.

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