As a performing classical musician, I’ve often wondered – is the lack of our listeners a problem of the post-iron age, or that of parenting, or its larger unit- society, or is it insensitivity all around that’s killing us, or maybe – wait! Let’s for a moment stop putting the blame on everyone (this illness of the intelligentsia) and acknowledge (I’m addressing fellow musicians now) that apart from all of the above challenges, it’s our own fault, too. How many of us have actually stepped out of the merry-go-round of recitals, competitions, and business-making to look around and ask – for whom do I play, and why do millions prefer heavy metal over the Beethoven sonata which I practice for hours, days, and eventually, years? Looking at so many professional musician friends with heavy-loaded pop and rock “relaxation” playlists, dumb bestsellers, and other crappy things loaded into their “non- professional” time, I wonder — is classical music their job or is it their life? Put simply – would many of society’s musicians perform were it a non-profit affair? Were they musicians on the Titanic?
It looks like Hollywood soundtracks, those subconscious mass propagandists, have given us two excuses for putting classical music on the screen. One is a backdrop for psychopaths. The other is caste affairs. Sometimes, as these two occasionally go together, you’ll see them in a brilliant two -in- one director’s touch. Oh, I’ve forgotten occasional food commercials – especially pasta. You know- Italian pasta presumably goes down best with Rossini (perhaps because he was a good cook).
…..
A real-life dialogue between a friend of mine- a teacher, and her 13 year-old student(who, like most teenagers, listens to nothing but pop and rap).
(Student comes in. Hears classical music playing)
Student:(after some time) What music is that?
Teacher: That’s Chopin, it’s classical music.
Student: Classical? Hey, no, classical’s boring! But this isn’t! Really, what music is that?!
End of quote.
I always thought that if we had Mozart as part of our life, we wouldn’t want to listen to something that repeats “I want you baby” 20 times in a row. And it has nothing to do with psychopaths or caste. Why do most prefer easy-to-swallow alternatives? Perhaps because like any Art, classical doesn’t reflect life. As a poet said- Art reflects death more than life. If that sounds scary, it’s not. Art reflects that veil, and the attempt to lift it, come near it, or break through it desperately (depending on who you listen to – Bach, Mozart, Brahms, or Shostakovich) thinking about which is one of life’s endeavours. Philosophers have long said that we should always keep the fact of our mortality in mind. But in this respect Art comes much closer to accomplishing it than philosophy. Because instead of teaching us it shows us. Instead of taking desperate measures to prove, it says – take a look.
Surely, with all our pleasure-infused mass media, who would want to take a look a bit beyond life? I want you baby is understandable, everyday, cliché. It follows you everywhere – on the bus, in the car, in a movie. It adapts to any situation. And a Mozart concerto? It doesn’t adapt to you – it adapts your life to itself.It forces you to take a look sideways and beyond that bus, car, or movie, into a different reality. Because few actually need that, it feels like almost no one needs poetry, music, literature with all their thought-provoking weight. Yet what we’re missing is that in the end, life itself forces us to do just that – think of what shall come next. And no one can escape it.
In fact, life is much more merciless at tearing that veil than Art.
But sometimes it seems that just no one is listening to either.
Let’s forget those left behind or waiting ahead, people forsaken out of wisdom or foolishness, our very problems and despairs. Let’s listen, for one moment together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koN9m0ltRFY
Flowers & Music 