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Wed, 10 Jan 2007 12:42:08 -0800 |
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A writer of my generation named Robert Slichta reminisces as follows
about "music appreciation" in elementary school, and its consequences
(from the American Thinker).
"That fall, in a New York City public school, I had to attend
a twice weekly class called Music Appreciation. The idea was
to train us to enjoy classical music. The method was to play the
piece through, and then, in subsequent 'quiz' classes, to start
an unannounced record and award a point to the first raised hand
that correctly identified it--the boys being pitted against the
girls. To help us remember the title and composer of each piece,
we learned to sing a little jingle to each melody. For example:
This is the symphony / that Schubert wrote and never finished.
... Such were my introductions to classical music, with diverse
results. Sixty five years later, I don't merely dislike "Voices
of Spring", I hate it, almost as much as I hate "Happy Birthday
to You", which makes me so rigid with revulsion that I can barely
blow out the candles."
I enjoyed the same educational experience as Mr. Slichta, and it
elicited in me a deep loathing for Schubert's 8th symphony that lasted
about 40 years, but finally evaporated. In fact, I eventually even
bought a CD of the piece for my own collection. This leads to the
following important conclusion: the hatred of classical music which
American public school music appreciation used to stimulate IS NOT
IRREVERSIBLE.
Jon Gallant and Dr. Phage
Department of Gnome Sciences
University of Washington
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