I stumbled on the question of classical music’s relevance this morning and immediately though, “Relevant to what?” My next thought was that it would be answered by the usual complaints about dead white males and bygone eras.
In fact, the question is posed and answered by our own Professor Carol, who occasionally graces this blog with her writing. Today she took up this issue at a new blog called “Music After 50,” a site worth visiting.
The topic is highly relevant on this blog, despite our tendency to get mired in the ephemeral problems of the day. In the future, when every person holding office in the federal government has been replaced and the political debate has shifted to entirely new topics, people will still ponder the things that express our common culture (or that failed in that regard) and our highest aspirations. Today, unfortunately, the highest aspirations of many involve fracturing the common culture and replacing it with trendy pabulum.
So what does Professor Carol say about music?
It’s more than relevant. We can discard outmoded technology without discarding the science behind it. But our cultural heritage is a different matter.
Culture is defined by what gets passed from generation to generation. Symphonies, operas, oratorios, sonatas, and other “old” types of music retain their powerful, even life-altering message for us today. Deprived of that message, we are weakened as a society.
The problem is not that classical music no longer speaks to us. Rather, we have become too distracted to listen.
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