Kevin Sutton wrote:

>I don't buy the egalitarian view of high art.  It isn't for everyone,
>only for those who make the effort to truly appreciate it.

I'm not entirely sure I agree with you here.  Why isn't it for everyone?
When did it stop being for everyone?  When Verdi wrote an opera all of
Italy hummed the tunes.  Maybe not "everyone" likes "high art," whatever
that means, but surely it "is" for all of humanity to enjoy, no?

I think the elitist view of CM, this-is-mine-because-I'm-smarter-than-you,
is dangerous to the survival of the form.  It's what turns off young
people, it contributes to the general decline of record sales and concert
attendence, and it doesn't get us in the business anywhere at all.

 From my point of view as a Music Service Provider (MSP) I think High
Art is for everybody who wants to enjoy it.  That said, there are certain
traditions, just as in sports, that one learns as one goes along.  We
don't clap between movements.  We don't shout "Allll Riiiiight" just
before the last "Halleluia" in the Messiah.  Stuff like that.  And in
some places, we give a standing ovation not when we simply enjoy a
performance but only when it is truly exceptional.  But that's all
secondary.

Dave
http://mp3.com/davidrunnion