3 ms·

>I think it's easy to sit and judge someone as being "uncultured" because they listen to music that was popular when they were a teenager Pretty funny, especia

by floxy 3y ago

>I think it's easy to sit and judge someone as being "uncultured" because they listen to music that was popular when they were a teenager Pretty funny, especially since I just attended a sold-out performance of Mozart's Requiem last month. Back when I was younger, I think the dominant perception was that classical music was "cultured" and popular / current music was lacking in refinement

tombert 3y ago
I think it kind of goes both ways? Maybe the word "uncultured" isn't right, but I feel like when I say "I don't really listen to much that was written in the last fifteen years", people kind of act like I'm some kind of luddite. I also think a lot of people feel like the smartest people go way back and listen to the classical stuff. Personally, I've never really been able to get into classical music outside of movie soundtracks, and for awhile I was kind of embarrassed by that fact, but I'm not really anymore. As I said, music is about entertainment, and you like what you like. Kind of related, when I was a teenager, I liked to read a lot, but I didn't have any money. I discovered Project Gutenberg and started reading a lot of public domain stuff (a lot of Mark Twain, Herman Melville, Dickens, etc), purely out of cheapness. Teachers would think I'm smarter than I actually was because I knew obscure literary references from old books in my essays and when I would answer questions in class, despite the fact that it doesn't really require a 10,000 IQ to download a PDF file from the internet and read it.
- ElFitz 3y ago
  > I also think a lot of people feel like the smartest people go way back and listen to the classical stuff. […] and for awhile I was kind of embarrassed by that fact That says a lot more about those who think that it does about than those who do or do not listen to "classical" music. > Personally, I've never really been able to get into classical music outside of movie soundtracks, Not implying it will or should be the same for you, or even that you should try it, but in my limited experience headphones and speakers have hardly ever done any justice to "classical" music. It also seems some of it needs the listeners to have lived a little, so it can resonate with them. As an example, I couldn’t care less for operas as a teenager. Fifteen years later, two live operas are among the few pieces that have so far managed to make me cry. But in any case, to each their own.
  - tombert 3y ago
    I don’t disagree with anything you said. I did however try seeing some Beethoven performance a few years ago and I didn’t really enjoy it. I can respect and appreciate the talent of the musicians, and I didn’t hate it or anything, but I still didn’t really have that much fun.

by floxy 3y ago

tombert 3y ago

I think it kind of goes both ways? Maybe the word "uncultured" isn't right, but I feel like when I say "I don't really listen to much that was written in the last fifteen years", people kind of act like I'm some kind of luddite. I also think a lot of people feel like the smartest people go way back and listen to the classical stuff. Personally, I've never really been able to get into classical music outside of movie soundtracks, and for awhile I was kind of embarrassed by that fact, but I'm not really anymore. As I said, music is about entertainment, and you like what you like. Kind of related, when I was a teenager, I liked to read a lot, but I didn't have any money. I discovered Project Gutenberg and started reading a lot of public domain stuff (a lot of Mark Twain, Herman Melville, Dickens, etc), purely out of cheapness. Teachers would think I'm smarter than I actually was because I knew obscure literary references from old books in my essays and when I would answer questions in class, despite the fact that it doesn't really require a 10,000 IQ to download a PDF file from the internet and read it.

ElFitz 3y ago
> I also think a lot of people feel like the smartest people go way back and listen to the classical stuff. […] and for awhile I was kind of embarrassed by that fact That says a lot more about those who think that it does about than those who do or do not listen to "classical" music. > Personally, I've never really been able to get into classical music outside of movie soundtracks, Not implying it will or should be the same for you, or even that you should try it, but in my limited experience headphones and speakers have hardly ever done any justice to "classical" music. It also seems some of it needs the listeners to have lived a little, so it can resonate with them. As an example, I couldn’t care less for operas as a teenager. Fifteen years later, two live operas are among the few pieces that have so far managed to make me cry. But in any case, to each their own.
- tombert 3y ago
  I don’t disagree with anything you said. I did however try seeing some Beethoven performance a few years ago and I didn’t really enjoy it. I can respect and appreciate the talent of the musicians, and I didn’t hate it or anything, but I still didn’t really have that much fun.