Europe before WWI produced classical music so good that no one has been able to compete with it (for classical music, not music in general) since then.
I don’t have any particular opinion on the subject. Classical music is ok in moderation and I’ll play it myself from time to time (trumpet). But I have absolutely no interest in identifying which pieces belong to which area and how they are ranked by those who consider themselves experts.
After all, anyone with decent taste will tell you that the best classical music has less aesthetic merit than the best Weird Al songs.
I’m not sure I know how to cash out “aesthetic merit”, but seeing Al play Yoda live, and in particular seeing him and Jim West duet on accordian and guitar, is a moment of joy unsurpassed by any I’ve experienced at classical performances.
Oh well then NancyLebovitz’s line:
is not correct.
I don’t have any particular opinion on the subject. Classical music is ok in moderation and I’ll play it myself from time to time (trumpet). But I have absolutely no interest in identifying which pieces belong to which area and how they are ranked by those who consider themselves experts.
After all, anyone with decent taste will tell you that the best classical music has less aesthetic merit than the best Weird Al songs.
I’m not sure I know how to cash out “aesthetic merit”, but seeing Al play Yoda live, and in particular seeing him and Jim West duet on accordian and guitar, is a moment of joy unsurpassed by any I’ve experienced at classical performances.
I saw you advertising the live performance—almost certainly what primed him as the example. I was jealous! :)