I enjoyed reading the quotes from students in Karl Miller's freshman
seminar. From the listing of quotations, it would seem that 'attention
span' has much to do with the lack of interest on the part of young
people. One of the quotes on marketing strategy sticks in my mind:
>Make the music shorter.
Books have often been published in abridged form. Why not music? Just
perform the exposition without repeat and add in a short coda. I certainly
would not recommend this approach to veterans of classical music, but
it might be a worthwhile way to introduce novices to the genre. We have
to recognize and adapt to short attention spans in order to increase
classical music's general appeal.
Don Satz
[log in to unmask]