Ode to Classical Music

Please forgive this celebratory outburst. We just bought three pairs of tickets to the symphony and opera (you had to buy three to get 20% off), and I'm high as a kite.

It's funny how many people consider a night at the opera to be genuinely incomprehensible. The next thing said is that we must be really smart and cultured.

Smart? No.

Cultured? We think that's a fantastic goal. But mostly, a night at the opera is a really, really good time.

The difficulty in writing any persuading prose about classical music is the guaranteed inference of elitism. Granted, we wholeheartedly accept that charge in relation to ICE CREAM, but not classical music. Country music, on the other hand - well, let me paraphrase Bob Newhart:

I don’t like country music, but I don’t mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means ‘put down.’

Now that I have clearly defined the music world, we can move on to my wholly un-elitist paean to classical music.

A love of classical music does not come easily, though it does come naturally. I believe we are predisposed to recognize "anything virtuous, lovely or of good report," especially as all share an inspired heritage from the Divine.

My love of classical music originated in a home where my dad's classical LPs were always spinning and, on rare occasions, my mother played it on the piano.

But most who discover classical music (it is a discovery process) do so later in life. It is usually born out of a hunger or an unsatisfied longing. Constant stimuli ironically creates a void - a void that can only be satisfied by things of an eternal nature. To me, classical music (or fine music in general) is next to godliness. Like the Promethean fire stolen from heaven, we have music to remind us of our celestial origins. We gravitate to the holy because we recognize it.

It is my strong belief that our tastes are evolutionary. Very few still eat Chef Boyardee or Smartees. Instead, we discover that we do like mustard and appreciate fine cuisine.

In a fantastic BYU Magazine article, Elder Douglas L. Callister said:

When some music has passed the tests of time and been cherished by the noble and refined, our failure to appreciate it is not an indictment of grand music. The omission is within. If a young person grows up on a steady diet of hamburgers and french fries, he is not likely to become a gourmet. But the fault is not with fine food. He just grew up on something less. Some have grown up on a steady diet of musical french fries.

It is controversial these days to speak in absolutes and say that something is inherently better than another. Who is to say that gourmet food is better than french fries? Well, I love french fries (as can be seen by my girlish figure) but a nice veal marsala is better. I mean no slight to the french fry lover - unless they like french fries and country music.

As with absolutes, it is uncouth today to be a connoisseur and form opinions.

I agree that liking classical music can be a hard thing to do. But that's half the fun for me. I started out liking Pachelbel's Canon in D, wondering why everybody liked Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Now, I still love Pachelbel and still don't like the Rite of Spring. But I have found hundreds of other wonderful pieces to like since then. Perhaps some day I'll understand the Rite of Spring. I'm sure some day I'll be ready for it.

What we don't understand - like the Rite of Spring - we find boring. We find things boring because we are not familiar with them. Just as baseball is boring to those who do not understand the rules, classical music is no different. There is so much there to learn, which again is half the fun.

Would that we were all required to take Music Appreciation 101 both as a youth and then as an adult. Classical music almost requires an introduction, a teacher. Instead, we stumble upon classical music after hearing an amazing score to our favorite movie, commercial, cartoon or muppet performance (see below).

I like to think of that scene in Mr. Holland's Opus where he introduced the music class to Beethoven's 7th symphony (2nd movement) while telling them about Beethoven's struggle with deafness. They, like you, were hooked!

Said Oscar Wilde:

“After playing Chopin, I feel as if I had been weeping over sins that I had never committed, and mourning over tragedies that were not my own.”

If this sounds rehearsed, it is because we discuss this frequently at home. Diahan loves country music and french fries. She admirably tries to humor my classical music evangelism and even lets me play it at home.

Unfortunately, she is not yet a true believer - though she loves going to the opera. She agrees with me in theory, but her honky tonk heart is hard.

Between you and me, I'm not sure I'd want it any other way.

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For years I gave away classical CDs like candy - my own attempt at being Mr. Holland. And even now, I would like nothing more than for everyone to go with us to hear Beethoven's 9th performed live. In case we don't see you there, I have included a nice rendition of the Ode to Joy finale, among others.

P.S. Just so you know that I'm not a complete square, I own a gun, love Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash and long walks on the beach - in that order.

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