Friday, July 2, 2010

6 Months & 6 thoughts on a half year of classical

Hello All,
To those few of you who have paid attention for the past 6 months I am most grateful. I have a few thoughts on the state of my year of classical.
6 Month/ 6 Note Recap:
  1. Classical music is MANY things. This may sound like a general statement that lacks depth and very possibly is but still I am learning this day by day. Modern Instrumental music, Opera, Chamber, Choral...subtle differences between and of these and the Classical Music we are all supposed to know a tiny bit about are lost on many. Those of you in the know, please help us. There are many organizations trying to reach out. PLEASE TRY HARDER. People (some people) want to enjoy Opera and Symphony and Phillip Glass. Give them a chance. More free concerts, More free programs. Teach the kids in school in ways they can understand and enjoy. I have never met a small child who didn't enjoy banging a drum or symbol as hard as they can. Consider this my plea to all those who are in a position to do so...give the world more music and they will listen. Otherwise its more of the same.
  2. Opera isn't easy, but it is worth it. I won't say too much on this because I still don't know much. Some Opera is beautiful and lyrically and colorful and catchy and some is ugly and scary and interesting. Don't give up trying to enjoy it, it is worth the work.
  3. Beethoven is everywhere. I mean everywhere. Enjoy it, listen to it, but too much Beethoven is too much.
  4. Live music is unbelievably different than recorded music. Go see as much live music as you can. I used to see so much music (yes yes, I followed Phish) and it always trumps recorded music.
  5. It is good to set goals. I am very happy I am doing this. That said:
  6. Variety is the spice of life as they say, so be careful of trying to do too much of the same. I have spent the last few months doing less than my 2 hrs of allotted classical listening (shame on me) and trying to fill in with some InstantEncore, Last.fm and Pandora when I had the time. Still, I have a need for my favorites. Reggae, R&B, and good old Rock & Roll music that I cant live with out. I crave these tunes and these voices...so make sure to branch out but take it slow. Its not like you need to do it all in one year.