Len Fehskens wrote:

>Mike Leghorn writes:
>
>>Popular music can be appreciated (for what it's worth, which isn't much,
>>if you ask me) immediately upon first hearing.  It doesn't strive to reveal
>>a story or a larger structure.  All that you need to hear can be heard in
>>the first few seconds.
>
>Part of the reason classical music is so unpopular is that its fans are so
>often so gratuitously dismissive of popular music.  (Can you say "snob", or
>"elitist" which seems to be the current synonym?) Every statement above is
>demonstrably false.

I am reminded of those who are snobbish about the visual arts...however
I guess that those with an informed appreciation can see through such an
attitude.

On the other hand, I believe that with any good music, you can indeed get
the "idea" in the first few measures.  I remember reading somewhere that
Schoenberg thought that the essence of a work should come from the "idea."

As for popular music, I come from the notion that the success of
popular music is based upon how popular it is.  Like any form of commercial
expression, it needs to grab the attention of the consumer at the very
first.  On the other hand I can see that there is an increasing amount of
"popular" or commercial music that has goals other than purely commercial.

And going off on a related notion...I often listen to an interview program
on NPR which occasionally includes "music" reviews.  The other day I heard
some highly literate individual talking about the merits of some punk rock
band.  While this review was supposedly a music review, the commentary was
about the lyrics, the place of the music in social fabric of the time.
The only reference to the "music" was an occasional comment regarding the
quality of the singing and how it related to the text.  I can understand
why the reviewer had little to say about the music (here I go...one
of those musical snobs).  The harmonic rhythm of the piece was less
interesting than anything one encounters in a first semester freshman
harmony class.  I wonder how much of this sort of commentary on music
has to do with music.

Karl