Music and intellect 7.0: An impassioned plea…

While I realize that most of the sub-humans are still agape at the death of “the king of pop” (one wonders if that phrase could well be taken as an insult) and the latest trials and tribulations of “Jon and Kate,” I thought that this next topic could be a bit more high-minded than my usual assaults on the latest drivel. As such, this week will be devoted to musical commentary of a somewhat cerebral level (I will not hold it against you for declining to read these posts as I have neither the time nor the inclination to answer any grade-school level questions). Having said so, we begin…

I sit in my living room, listening to Mozart’s 13th  piano concerto played by Mitsuko Uchida, a glass of old-vine grenache in my hand. While I am far from a religious man, I nonetheless feel blessed by my appreciation for great music. To be honest, I am slightly amazed at people who do not feel any depth of emotion for music; you have met them before: “Oh, I don’t know, I like all types…you know, whatever’s on at the time” is their typical response to a query as to their favorite type of music. These people confuse and confound me; I find myself wondering how they can say they truly enjoy living without a decent appreciation of music. I will not go so far as to say that music is the ne plus ultra of life; I recognize that the multifaceted interests of the typical human lend themselves towards emphasis in a myriad of areas. I am, however, flabbergasted by people who consider themselves educated yet know virtually nothing of music.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised…

Musical education in this country is a joke; we spend significantly more time learning more “important things” and “building consensus through teamwork” (or whatever the current laughable education theory dictates) than listening to the strains of effort by dead, white, European males. The fact that these men contributed more to the cause of enriching humanity than a thousand incarnations of Al Gore is largely irrelevant: they were not social activists and agitators who “bled green” and spent their time saving the whales or ensuring, through ridiculous protests against “globalization” (whatever they think the term means), that third-world nations retain their distinction for being afflicted with crushing poverty. In short, because these men were not annoying, they are inconsequential to modern life.

Allow me to retort…