Juozas Rimas Jr writes:

>The content, emotion, complexity of classical music leave pop absolutely
>bland.  With apologies to Mr.  Rimas, I contend that this sort of
>generalization is almost always inaccurate.  Pop is no more a monolithic
>entity than classical music.  The same attitude makes many young people
>today dismiss classical music as dull.  They think (I believe) that
>classical music lacks the catchy melodies and rhythmic energy of pop (or
>rock, R&B, etc.), while classical music enthusiasts know that both of these
>qualities can be found in abundance; you just have to know where to look.
>Much of pop music is bland and simple, but not all.  Moreover, complexity
>is not a direct measure of art; after all, one might make the claim that
>quantum mechanics is more complex than classical music, but if so that
>doesn't necessarily make it more entertaining, moving, or spiritually
>satisfying.
>
>...the New York Philharmonic concertmaster whose true artistry is now
>doubtful for me...

Wow.  Such a statement implies great confidence in the ability to judge
True Artistry.  The analytical part of my brain would love for there to
exist such an absolute, objective standard, but the rest of my brain just
doesn't believe that it could.  Even though Mr.  Rimas probably knows a
thousand times more about music than I ever will.

The question remains:  why might classical music lovers also listen
to popular music? It's an interesting question to me; you have probably
guessed that I do listen to (some) pop, as well as rock, folk, jazz,
and even a little hip-hop.  I grew up listening to my mother's classical
music and my older sister's pop/rock.  The popular music (as well as the
classical) has a nostalgic, sentimental value to me that I have no need
to deny.  Popular music allows easy access to a level of strong, if
unsophisticated, emotions.  What's wrong with liking easy, immediate
pleasures as well as complex, abstruse ones? Do "lower" pleasures devalue
"higher" ones? (If so, one might argue we should all aspire to celibacy, to
avoid one of the most basic, primal pleasures of all.) Personally, I like
riding my motorcycle and eating a sloppy hamburger as much as reading
historical analysis and sitting down to "kaiseki-ryori".  I also enjoy
poetry, and some popular music has lyrics at least more complex and
allusive than some opera libretti!  Finally, when I was younger I used to
enjoy dancing at clubs.  feeling that energetic, driving beat of popular
music as an expression of youth and vitality.  I may not go dancing
anymore, but I still like the feeling of youthful spirit that that music
embodies.

This whole notion of "my music is better than your music" seems silly to
me.  You have people who like Stravinsky looking down on people who like
Rachmaninoff looking down on people who like Solti looking down on people
who like Bocelli looking down on people who like the Spice Girls.  Why? I
no more enjoy being labeled a snob by people who don't understand classical
music, than being labeled a sappy sentimentalist for liking Rachmaninoff
by people who do.  We are complex beings, with different tastes to suit
different aspects of our complex personalities.  I think anything less
would be dull, no?

Richard Tsuyuki