# Poor attempts at proselytizing?



## IBMchicago (May 16, 2012)

Any amusing annecodetes about failed attempts at convincing someone/others to appreciate your personal classical music tastes...or even to appreciate classical music itself?

Several years ago, I took a friend who had just moved to Chicago to attend the symphony. He did not have any appreciation of classical music, but was interested in the experiencing arts/culture in his new urban dwelling. Some of his other friends had already taken him to Stepphenwolf Theater and the Museum of Contempory Art, and now it was my turn to impress. After a nice dinner and a bottle of decent wine, we took our seats in the concert hall. After the first movement of Schubert's Seventh, my friend turned to ask me a question (unaware of concert etiquette) and was furious to find me fast asleep. He then had to sit through the remainder of the performances without an alert and enthusiastic friend to assist him through the experience. Admittedly, I was jetlagged and wine didn't help, but I did permanently turn my friend off from classical music.

Any other stories out there? Sometimes, it is nice to start off a Monday by chuckling at yourself.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

My grandmother and great-aunt shared a home. Granny was musical; Aunt Gladys not. 
Granny bought tickets for us to go to the local cathedral to watch a 'Stabat Mater' - can't even remember the composer! It was near Easter & the cathedral was absolutely freezing. As Gran was in her 90s, Taggart chivalrously lent her his jacket saying he didn't need it. We weren't used to that sort of music and hearing the choir endlessly reiterating the phrases while simultaneously perishing of cold was like being tortured. 
Then, when we got back, Aunt Gladys scoffed: 'I bet you didn't enjoy that at all!'
Which was true, but we had to support Granny so: 'Oh yes we did, we loved it!' we lied through our teeth. 

So that put us off listening to sacred choral works being performed & we haven't really got over it. We couldn't bring ourselves to go & hear Bach's St John Passion in our local cathedral, Norwich, this Easter, even though we love Bach & we love Norwich Baroque, our local baroque ensemble.


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## rrudolph (Sep 15, 2011)

The most embarassing anecdotes I can think of would be the couple of times where another person patiently let me prattle on about some composer or musical subject that I assumed they knew nothing of, only to then reveal that not only were they not ignorant of the subject but actually knew more than me and that some of what I thought I knew was wrong. I approach musical conversations in a much more circumspect way now.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

rrudolph said:


> The most embarassing anecdotes I can think of would be the couple of times where another person patiently let me prattle on about some composer or musical subject that I assumed they knew nothing of, only to then reveal that not only were they not ignorant of the subject but actually knew more than me and that some of what I thought I knew was wrong. I approach musical conversations in a much more circumspect way now.


Lol. I've had my share in my youth, and later here and there!

I still wonder if the listener was either perversely taking some delight in allowing me to let out all the rope with which to hang myself, or if they were patiently letting me speak out of deference to my relative n00b enthusiasm


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## IBMchicago (May 16, 2012)

I have mostly found that those I have attempted to convert are very polite and gracious in their "thanks-but-no-thanks" responses. But, I have to give one in particular tremendous credit for trying so hard. Several summers ago, a group of friends and I attended a series of performances at the Aspen Music Festival, and one of our friends brought along his lesser-informed cousin who lived near the area. We enjoyed a performance of Rachmanioff's Cello Sonata in G Min as we observed this poor cousin fidget in chair as his eyes clouded over in dreaded boredom. However, we were surprised at his response upon leaving the venue: (imagine the most Long Beach Surfer intonated speech possible) "Duuuuude, that 3rd movement was aaaaawesome." We're not quite sure how much he meant it, but we appreciated his optimism and generosity and bought him him meal afterward.


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## CypressWillow (Apr 2, 2013)

I was dating a man who'd had very little exposure to Classical music up to that point. At my urging, we went to a piano recital that I'd long awaited: A fine pianist performing a mostly Chopin program. 
I was enraptured from beginning to end. He sat quietly, following my lead as to when to applaud, etc. 
As we left, I asked him how he'd liked it. (If he'd said he especially liked the Chopin, it would have ended up a _very_ lucky night for him!)
He thought for a moment, then said, "I get bored with just one instrument, rather have had an orchestra."
Hmmmn.
Unlucky for him. Lucky escape for me.


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## Cheyenne (Aug 6, 2012)

I never attempt to proselytize, but hilariously, the inverse of what I was expecting once happened. It was midnight, and I was in a plane heading over the Atlantic with my school-class. I sat next to a male friend and a nice girl whom I had not had the pleasure of speaking to often. The boy listened almost exclusively to modern rap music, and viewed classical music only as Boccherini's string quartet minuet - mindless, stuffy posh. In my naive attempt to change his view a little, I decided to let him hear some Bartók, as we were exchanging music, and I was looking for something dark and edgy, completely the opposite of the Mozartian galantry he expected. As usual for a listener not used to listening to long things, I needed a part of a piece that would take only a minute or so; I decided the last movement of his 5th string quartet would be sufficient to shake him a little. Had I a larger selection of music on my phone, I would have picked something truly apposite - Xenakis, We bern, that sort of thing - but I had put mostly Baroque music on my iPod because the sound levels change little in many Baroque composition and lower sound levels are hard to hear on a plane. The girl, who had been sleeping for a large part of the trip, had slowly woken up about a minute ago, and quietly watched the proceedings. The boy heard the Bartók, laughed at it, and then immediately dismissed it - my plan had clearly failed, he saw it only as more guff. However, he quickly told the girl she should listen to it, presumably so she could share his mirth. She complied, listened to it for a good minute and a half, and then said: 'What's so bad about it? sounds like me as an average classical piece, I like it!'

I was honestly quite stunned at both reactions, given my mother has literally forbidden me to play 20th century music when she can hear it, because Schnittke, Bartók and Webern turned her off.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I no longer try to do this. I used to with rock music in my younger pre-classical days until I overheard one of my friends describing me in less than complimentary terms after my latest attempt at indoctrination. He was probably right - if I could hear myself I was probably a boring smart-***. In fact, I never mention classical music at all in social situations unless I'm specifically asked about it or if the conversation is based on it - which is more or less never.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I've told this before around here, but a friend was trying to get his fiancee interested in classical music. He had to step out of the car for an errand, so he left her there with a recording of Glenn Gould. 

By the time he returned, it had become dark, and he found her in the car unnerved. When asked why, she replied, "I tried to listen to the music, but I kept hearing some creep outside making noises."

So here's a warning: don't play Glenn Gould to a newbie without a warning about his extraneous noises.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I've never tried to convert anyone to the music I like of any genre, except maybe here where it might be appreciated. The closest that's ever happened is when I had the famous Stieler portrait of Beethoven as a desktop on my computer at work. A coworker / friend walked by and said, "Ooh! What a mean looking man!" I tried to explain that he was the greatest musician of his time, perhaps the greatest who ever lived, and yet almost completely deaf, never getting to hear his own work, and that the painter merely captured him as a brooding serious artist. She looked at him for a moment, cocked her head to one side and said, "Nah. He's mean," and walked off. I still don't know if she was messing with me.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

IBMchicago said:


> After the first movement of Schubert's Seventh, my friend turned to ask me a question (unaware of concert etiquette) and was furious to find me fast asleep.


You did it all wrong. Here's how to go about it:


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## Eschbeg (Jul 25, 2012)

Here's an example so silly you might not even believe it's real, so you'll have to trust me: there was one time when a world-class violinist posed as a busker in one of DC's busiest metro stations at one of DC's busiest hours, staking out a position not on the actual platform where people wait for trains but at the chaotic metro entrance in front of the turnstiles, and proceeded to play some Bach unaccompanied sonatas knowing full well that no rush hour commuters would stop to listen. Once the self-fulfilling prophecy was complete, the Washington Post printed an editorial reprimanding people who didn't prioritize classical music over arriving to work on time. I don't get the sense that this social experiment won over a lot converts to our cause.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Eschbeg said:


> Here's an example so silly you might not even believe it's real, so you'll have to trust me: there was one time when a world-class violinist posed as a busker in one of DC's busiest metro stations at one of DC's busiest hours, staking out a position not on the actual platform where people wait for trains but at the chaotic metro entrance in front of the turnstiles, and proceeded to play some Bach unaccompanied sonatas knowing full well that no rush hour commuters would stop to listen. Once the self-fulfilling prophecy was complete, the Washington Post printed an editorial reprimanding people who didn't prioritize classical music over arriving to work on time. I don't get the sense that this social experiment won over a lot converts to our cause.


It was Joshua Bell, and indeed perhaps not really a demonstration of anything. He made something like $30 during his hour or two of playing, and did get one or two enraptured listeners who didn't know who he was but recognized quality playing when they heard it. 

I thought the whole stunt was actually pretty cool, but that one should not read any great life lessons into it. As you point out, we all have lives that are also important.


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## Eschbeg (Jul 25, 2012)

brianvds said:


> It was Joshua Bell


Heh... I know. I was being facetious.



brianvds said:


> He made something like $30 during his hour or two of playing, and did get one or two enraptured listeners who didn't know who he was but recognized quality playing when they heard it.


As I recall, one woman who stopped recognized him because she had seen him in concert the night before. The article in which it was reported also mentioned that one or two children stopped to listen, and used this fact to prove something about how uncorrupted innocence and great art have a natural affinity, or something like that.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Eschbeg said:


> Proceeded to play some Bach unaccompanied sonatas knowing full well that no rush hour commuters would stop to listen. Once the self-fulfilling prophecy was complete, the Washington Post printed an editorial reprimanding people who didn't prioritize classical music over arriving to work on time.


I'm a lover of all kinds of music, and I've been known to stop for a good street musician, but when I'm on the clock, my time belongs to someone else. Personally, I value diligence and faithfulness to my obligations over dallying around to smell the roses. I have a friend like that; he runs on his own clock. He irritates everyone who is depending on him.


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## Guest (May 21, 2013)

Dear ManxFeeder, go live in India sometime for an experience that is 'beyond the clock', so to speak! I lived in India for a good while, and it took me a while to realize that I had to put my watch in the rucksack to be able to live in such a country without grinding my teeth down to their roots.


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## IBMchicago (May 16, 2012)

Eschbeg said:


> Here's an example so silly you might not even believe it's real, so you'll have to trust me: there was one time when a world-class violinist posed as a busker in one of DC's busiest metro stations at one of DC's busiest hours, staking out a position not on the actual platform where people wait for trains but at the chaotic metro entrance in front of the turnstiles, and proceeded to play some Bach unaccompanied sonatas knowing full well that no rush hour commuters would stop to listen. Once the self-fulfilling prophecy was complete, the Washington Post printed an editorial reprimanding people who didn't prioritize classical music over arriving to work on time. I don't get the sense that this social experiment won over a lot converts to our cause.


I remember that article with Joshua Bell. I think the point of the article was to state that in our extremely rushed/hectic lives, we wouldn't be able to recognize depth and beauty if it were right in front of us.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

"Sorry, Joshua, no time to listen right now. Anyway, I've got a better performance on CD."


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## Sudonim (Feb 28, 2013)

CypressWillow said:


> (If he'd said he especially liked the Chopin, it would have ended up a _very_ lucky night for him!)


I adore Chopin's music. Can we meet?


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## Eschbeg (Jul 25, 2012)

IBMchicago said:


> I remember that article with Joshua Bell. I think the point of the article was to state that in our extremely rushed/hectic lives, we wouldn't be able to recognize depth and beauty if it were right in front of us.


I'm sure that was the intent, yes, but what was actually demonstrated seems much more trivial and uncontroversial: namely, that we aren't able to appreciate depth and beauty _while_ we are rushed and hectic.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

but there's no saying people did not enjoy listening for the minute they passed by. They just didn't stop. A few months ago, while I was on the escalator at my tube stop, a woman behind me broke into song in a very self assured and tuneful way. I thoroughly enjoyed it but I didn't stop.


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