Quote Originally Posted by happy ears
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Oh no I have become an elitist just because of some of the music I listen to. Better ask for a big raise to justify my new attitude. God do I wish I had it all..
...it's largely due to an elitist attitude about it. If classical is perceived as only for the elite, it loses its relevance. Perhaps that's what happened to it. Maybe it just needs a facelift.

Perceptions aside, it's a music that anyone can enjoy. That enjoyment doesn't require a Phd, a six figure income, a Mercedes or a Rolex. But when people believe it does as does Skeptic, they fail to see that they are the ones killing it. Hell of a way for him to thank his parents.

Looking at classical objectively, it has several perceived shortcomings. It doesn't rock, it doesn't swing, there is no improvisation, it's largely the same from orchestra to orchestra and performance to performance (remember, these are PERCEIVED shortcomings -I'm not espousing these for myself), the players are limited by the composition and can't stretch very much, and shoot, it don't even make ya go "Yee-haw"! When people need one of these shortcomings satisfied, they don't look to classical music. Hence, the need for other forms of music and whether I enjoy them all or not, they are all necessary to someone or other.

You don't have to "understand" music or be able to read it to have music make an emotional or visceral impact on you. Elevating a certain type of music to the point where people perceive that they need a degree to appreciate it is what is "killing" classical music.
Interestingly, most of the people I know who live and breathe music - they eat breakfast with it, drive with it, take a shower with it, discuss it, do internet searches on it, etc - are rock fans. Overall, they seem to enjoy music more than classical or jazz fans, in many cases. Perhaps that's a tidbit with no real point but I do find it interesting. Maybe the emotional or visceral impact of music is more important than the intellectual side, hmmm?