There is a cultural debate going on. It's not new. In fact, it is centuries old. It is a contest between popular culture and the preservation of a classical heritage. As a music professor I feel this tension keenly. I primarily teach classical music, the music of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and those modern composers who by writing in an artful style have aligned themselves with the great composers of the past. In doing so I seek to preserve and transmit to the next generation a rich heritage. Nevertheless, I am sometimes asked why I do not include more popular music in my teaching. I should like to explain why. First off, through the internet and with their multi-use cell phones and MP3 players, students have more access to music these days than ever before. Most of the music they listen to is popular music. They don't need a professor to teach this to them. In the brief time I have with students who have enrolled in my class in an institution of higher education, I am most interested in exposing them to music to which they are largely unfamiliar, music which I believe has more artistic value than most popular music. It is not just that classical repertoire has withstood the test of time. The “classical” repertoire educates as well as entertains. It ennobles us, and heightens our appreciation for what we, as humans in our finest moments, are capable of. Serious art music often presents an abstract musical idea that is expounded upon over a period of time. It is the equivalent of the sort of intelligent and thoughtful discourse too often absent from a popular society more accustomed to commercials and sound bites. Jazz often offers this “thoughtful discourse,“ as do many types of music from around the world. Western popular music, by and large, does not. It is often superficial providing the listener a temporary “high” by appealing to that which is most primitive within him or her. As a composer, I can tell you that it is simple to write music that people will tap their feet to, just like it is simple to whip up the masses with an attractive but hollow campaign slogan. Like candy or American fast food, so much popular music is quickly consumed, and just as quickly forgotten. So do you think I dislike popular music? Not at all. I have my repertoire of popular music that I grew up with and I enjoy. But I appreciate it for what it is and do not wish to spend my students' valuable time with my personal preferences. Rather, I bring to my students my professional preferences, informed by reason, by my education and my experience. In my professional capacity as a music professor it is my responsibility to introduce to my students the finest music available. As for the popular music, I have no doubt that students will find it and enjoy it on their own, hopefully side by side with the music I offer them. I conclude as I often do by sharing a Youtube video. I know of no better video that portrays the sheer joy of classical music. Here is a 3-year old boy conducting the last portion of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. BM
