Karl Miller was wistful in another thread about "...back when there was
classical radio...", so I thought I'd finally complete my reply to John
Bernard, who was...

>... curious about how members of the list came to classical music.

Radio.

>I myself had no musical education to speak of growing up in the 70s
>and largely stopped listening to music of any kind after I grew bored
>with pop after high school.

I grew up in the 60s (and 50s), and had to keep the warm gloam of my
small radio under wraps after bedtime -- when Tchaikovsky's piano music
first came to my attention.  Until then, I hadn't known that time could
be so richly filled with sounds.

A portable record player came into the house my teens, and, aside
from some Beach Boys and Beatles 45s, I recall having 3 classical LPs:
including a recording of Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto and the
Paganini Variations (Agustin Anievas), and Weiniawski's 2nd violin
concerto and Paganini's spectacular 1st (Michael Rabin; Goossens
conducting).

Pop music disenchanted me only in graduate school, in the late 70s,
especially after hearing a live, hair-raising radio performance of
Beethoven's 5th 'Emperor' Piano Concerto -- the music on the other LP I
used to play on that little Sears Silvertone.  Through my public library,
I set about discovering Ravel's piano works and the staff at my university
music library led me also to Stravinksy, Bartok's string quartets, and
LPs where Noel Lee let John Field's nocturnes and Stravinsky's solo music
speak for itself.  I was even intrigued by weirder fare by Lutoslawski
and Rochberg.  25 years later, that curiosity continues -- magnified
into an obsession.

>Although I attended Oberlin, music was not a part of my life there.  The
>break came a few months ago when one sleepless Saturday night I began
>listening to "Modern Masterpieces" on the local NPR station.

I've heard some unfortunate things about NPR on this List, so I'm glad
to read this.

I gather that educators in Venezuela and Estonian take music very
seriously, so their children get first-rate musical training at school.
Elsewhere, it does not seem to be reckoned as part of a sound formal
education.  Getting musical training early in life requires choosing
one's parents carefully; also, chasing down classical records or
attending concerts requires a previous interest in classical.

This implies that classical music can have a chance to thrive -- so
others can be enriched as you and I have been -- only if it's 'out there'
for public consumption: that is, as a choice available on the radio for
free, or on TV, along with all the other musical options.  Well-stocked
libraries also help.

Those of us outside of the US can only hope that the trend there against
classical doesn't stifle what some of us can still find on the radio.

Bert Bailey