Klarinet Archive - Posting 000760.txt from 2004/10

From: Adam Michlin <amichlin@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Appealing to the superficial
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:29:45 -0400

At 08:41 PM 10/25/2004 +0200, Joseph Wakeling wrote:
>It's not. But it seems to me that walking into a classroom and saying
>"Today We Will Be Listening To Mozart" probably gets you on a losing
>streak to start with, because "Mozart" carries so much baggage with it
>(piano lesson torture, for starters). I'd rather start off kids by giving
>them all a CD with a wide variety of tracks burned on

[...]

*How* to introduce Mozart is an entirely different matter.

I would say it is a sad commentary if the name Mozart truly carries so much
negative baggage for kids. I'm not entirely sure this is true, however.
Certainly it would depend on the age level involved.

It does seem that some time in high school Mozart and classical music is
stereotyped by kids as boring, possibly because they don't realize how much
of the music they hear on TV actually falls under the heading of classical
(Orff's Carmina Burana being my favorite example). The reality that most
band kids have played more Alfred Reed and James Swearingen than Mozart and
Beethoven may also have something to do with it. I know very few people who
have played Mozart and find it boring.

Other than that I can find no fault whatsoever with what you suggest.

-Adam

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