Pablo Massa wrote:

>Bill Pirkle to Kevin (Sutton?):
>
>>>There has always been a distinction between the music for the masses and
>>>the music for the cognicenti.
>>
>>I also agree with this frank albeit snobbish sentiment.
>
>Often has been said that classical music lovers (and anything related to
>CM) are "snobbish".  However, almost every branch of popular music has its
>own "connoisseurs" (and us --the rest of mankind who don't know anything
>about polka-- are the masses).

Yes, first of all, it was me to whom BP was replying.  I quite agree,
and I will even confess to being "snobbish" as it were about all sorts
of music.  I don't know, however if snobbish is the correct word.
I looked it up in Webster's and it says there that a snob is one who
pretentiously judges others by social rank etc.  I certainly do not judge
anyone, pretentiously or otherwise.  Rather, I think that my tastes are
discriminating, and have developed thus due to exposure and education.  My
own cd collection contains an enormously wide variety of genres.  I love
lounge music from the 50's and 60's.  I buy every Andre Previn jazz record
I can find.  I like U2, Brian Eno and Sting as well as Palestrina, Morales
and Stockhausen.

I think that Kodaly said it best when he said "Music is meant for
everyone." In fact, that phrase along with "Our constituency is the world"
is the motto of my professional choir, The Helios Ensemble.  Perhaps it
would be more productive if we kept our judgemental hats in the box and
wore our legitimately critical hats more often.  Criticism is to engage
in a discourse of the merits of something and its place in the scheme of
things.  Snobbery is unenlightend, tiresome and certainly not educated.

Kevin Sutton