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