Note: the use of the word “classical” is annoying. Sometimes it can be taken to mean exclusively western music, sometimes a certain period… in this post I am simply using it to encompass a worldwide genre of a more traditional way of making music, using a wide range of instruments… essentially as opposed to modern stuff you hear on the radio.
I know there’s a kind of movement within the classical music genre and “those weird people who listen to it” to actually encourage non-listeners to overcome their fears and take the plunge into full-on classical music listening. ZOMG BIG SCARY ORCHESTRAS AND WAILING LADIES. And while I’m sure most of my readers are very intelligent beings and know that there is actually nothing to be afraid of when confronted by instruments such as french horns, or long pretentious words like fortissimo, you must nevertheless admit that a large proportion of you people do not listen to classical music regularly. And I am sure an even greater proportion of your offline friends and acquaintances won’t even go near the stuff.
The thing is, amongst no-way-I-don’t-listen-to-that-weird-classical-shit people there is a kind of feeling that classical music players and listeners are part of an elite pretentious crowd who “understand” the music and don’t think anyone else can understand, because it’s “clever” and “more intellectual” than other kinds of more popular music. Or, at the very least, there’s a feeling that it’s just odd, and “different” and “not for them”.
In response amongst the classical listeners there’s a mostly prevalent feeling that this is NOT true, and there’s a move to try and interest non-listeners in classical music, because it’s NOT elitist, and it’s for everyone, and we should try and push away the prejudices.
But I, as a life-long lover of Classical… and then Baroque, Romantic, Minimalist, Neo-Classical and Expressionist music, as a violinist and a classical singer, and as a would-be Music student and then graduate, beg to differ. I AM an elitist.
BUT WAIT. See, I love classical music so much I think everyone should listen to it. Of course, there will be the people in the world who just don’t like that kind of music, just like I don’t like hip hop. I think. And then there will be the horrible people in the world I am forever prejudiced against and will never, ever understand, like my ex-boyfriend, who don’t like music FULL STOP. But everyone else should at least try it out, just like I think people should listen to other genres they’ve never tried.
“YAY!” you say, “Ann isn’t an elitist! That’s just a nice opinion!” OH NO. The reason I want everyone to listen to classical music is because I think it is better than all other types of music. And I think it is better because it is more intricate, more deep, more versatile, more evocative, and more far-reaching than any other type of music. Obviously, the “better than everything else” IS just an opinion, but you get my point on the elitist thing.
I think I am perfectly justified in saying all this stuff, because unlike the majority of you people, I have studied these kinds of music in depth, plan on doing so for the foreseeable future, AND have got to the point where I analyse everything I hear in detail, add a timestamp to it, make an educated guess to the composer and even figure out why this song has got to number 1. I have JUST read that over and realised how patronising that sounds and OOH I THINK I JUST LOST A FEW SUBSCRIBERS.
And yes, I’ve even got to the point where I refuse to listen to classical music on the radio because they pronounce names wrong, and call pieces of music “relaxing” and “invigorating” when they are so obviously only doing it for the pretentious factor because HOW is a calm violin sonata “invigorating”? Yes, you may award me double elitist points for that.
But now you see – there are two types of classical elitists. There are the actual pretentious ones who, believe me, sometimes even scare ME away from music because they honestly believe that they are better, posher, and more intellectual because of the type of music they listen to. Most of the time they don’t care two straws for the music they listen to, and rather than appreciating it for the awesomeness that it is, actually degrade the stuff.
And then there are the nice ones like me. I firmly believe that the music is better and “deeper” than any other, but I don’t claim to be any better than you just because I spend a lot of time listening to it, appreciating it and studying it. And believe me, I’m down with the “spread the WORRRD. Classical music is AWEEESOMEEEE” people out there. I want everyone to appreciate it for the wonderful music it is. But let’s face it – there are classical elitists, and there always will be. And I’m proud to be one, and I hope you will be one too.
(Be prepared for a crash course in all these different, awesome, clever types of classical music, coming to a blog near you)
Tags: awesome, classical music, me, Music