Mike Leghorn, about a musical friend who...

>...has a guitar which he sometimes picks up and plays (very well, btw.
>For me, it's welcome entertainment.) I can usually identify what he's
>playing, and actually carry on an intelligent conversation with him about
>rock music from the 60s and 70s.  We even talk about Jazz sometimes --
>he once played the opening chords to "Kind'a Blue", which I was able to
>identify.  But...  he as absolutely no interest in classical music.  It's
>kind of funny, when we talk about music, there's a whole side to me,
>like the part of the iceberg under water, that he is blind to, i.e.  my
>world of classical music.

I find this very hard to accept, as stated.  A genuine music-lover who's
simply deaf to classical music?  It seems so unlikely, there must be
something missing...

My feeling is that he's either not heard the right CM, pieces that might
appeal to him, or not enough patience has been invested listening to
what he's heard.  After all, CM does require some focus and attention.
A third possibility that comes to mind (which is a common mangling of
the last point), is the daunted pleb myth that intelligence and a boffin
disposition are required to appreciate CM.  Call this the usual negativity
about elites, let's pass it by and consider the other two.

If CM were confined to the music of, say, Vivaldi, Corelli and Telemann,
I'd go along with your friend's musical blind spot being down to taste.
I'd say the same if it were just opera, or limited to post-Stravinsky
art music ...or whatever.  But CM isn't so.

I find it hard to believe that one who's big on jazz could be indifferent
to Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue.' Or that anyone duly wowed by the movie
"Double Indemnity" could bypass the dark and intense suite from Miklos
Rozsa's score without blinking.  I certainly consider both pieces --
which I mention just because I heard both recently -- as within the realm
of CM.

I guess all I'm saying is: CM comprises a wide range of music.  Something
else which I've been learning through my CM obsession, is that tastes
are not static.

My feeling is that this blind spot is not a matter of taste, which we very
often treat as somehow innate.  Maybe he just hasn't heard music that's
likely to spark his interest, or he may have heard things that switch
off his attention.  I reckon many false points of entry exist even for
a music-lover, and only one or two will open those magic doors.

It's possible that he just hasn't given the CM he's heard enough attention
to elicit real interest, which could stem from not having been exposed
to the music that's likely to prompt it.

Bert Bailey
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