I’ve been a music major for four years, and I’ve been involved in music for eleven, and I can say with certainty that music is very important in my life.
I love all types of music, from the more modern Hozier to classic rock to classical music—I like it all, even the odd modernists of the 20th century. One of my least favorite things is when people make generalizations about certain generations, but I do want to say that I think that there is a certain lack of appreciation for any music older than 1970.
It’s not across the board. I definitely know a few people with a love of Bach or of Beethoven or Scarlatti, but there should be more appreciation for the music of centuries ago so that we can understand exactly what has happened for us to land here with Taylor Swift and Hans Zimmer.
Classical music should not be some sort of music that is held at a distance. It should not be music taken from the back of the closet on special occasions: weddings and funerals, baby showers and background noises at coffee shops. It is not meant to be listened from a far, with distance between the listeners and the understanding of what is being heard.
It is not meant to be avoided.
There is more of a relationship between then and now than people are aware of. The styles of Strauss led to the creation of Darth Vader’s march; Leonard Bernstein created the “West Side Story” and assisted in the push for Broadway; and Beethoven gave us music composed with deafness in mind—though people rarely understand exactly what the influence of his deafness had on his composition.
Classical music is for anyone.
If you like musicals, you’ll find joy in the odd opera or tone poem (though opera is not for everyone I can promise that). If you’re a fan of jazz, you’ll love the modernists like Schoenburg or Messiaen. If you’re a fan of any sort of music soundtrack, you should try out symphonies from any composer—I particularly recommend Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 or Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8.
Classical music is beautiful and an audible record of the past and how we got here. It reflects societal movements and revolutions. It is a very human way of recounting emotions and influences and aesthetics.
Classical music is not just noise.