# Good News for Classical Listeners



## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

From the New York Post:

Your Taste in Music Says a Lot About Your Bank Account

What does it say about someone like me, who primarily is a Classical listener, but in my down time has been known to listen to a lot of Country - mostly oldies though. Classical country.


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## Weird Heather (Aug 24, 2016)

mbhaub said:


> What does it say about someone like me, who primarily is a Classical listener, but in my down time has been known to listen to a lot of Country - mostly oldies though. Classical country.


I was wondering about the same thing - as I read your post and the article, I was pondering the fact that I have been listening to French Canadian country music on the satellite radio in my car lately. I also have a classic country music station on one of the presets. I don't listen to country music all the time, but I enjoy it every now and then, and I have enjoyed it for a long time. Most of the other genres of music that I listen to regularly aren't on their list.

I think some of the speculations in the article make sense. Exposure to classical music early in life can lead to a lifelong interest in it, but some types of families are far more likely to have this music in the home than others are. I come from a family background in which a college education is considered obligatory. Also, some family members learned to play instruments when they were young. Classical records were present in my mother's small record library, and she had a small collection of sheet music - nearly all classical - in the compartment in the piano bench. When I was a child, it was the classical records that first captured my interest, and although I have a very broad taste in music nowadays, classical music has always been with me and has always been a priority.

Incidentally, my income is toward the top of the range noted in the article, so perhaps I fit the stereotype. Strangely, I don't often listen to electronic music (which also correlates with higher incomes), although I sometimes enjoy avant-garde classical music that includes electronic elements, and I have a soft spot for the primitive electronic instruments of the 1970s and earlier. As for the other categories, I hardly ever listen to rap/hip-hop or hard rock. I occasionally listen to 1980s music, and in the pop/top 40 category, I mostly listen to music from earlier decades: 1890s to 1970s.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

These are just trends, I know many successful people that listen to pop/hip hop that have huge incomes, bigger than mine.


I wonder what D. Trump listens to, :lol:


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Captainnumber36 said:


> These are just trends, I know many successful people that listen to pop/hip hop that have huge incomes, bigger than mine.
> 
> I wonder what D. Trump listens to, :lol:


The sound of the human voice--his own, or others, singing a paean of praise.....


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Strange Magic said:


> The sound of the human voice--his own, or others, singing a paean of praise.....


So true! :lol:


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

What a pile of horse-pucky (thanks Woody for that term :lol that article is. It merely re-inforces the notion that all classical music fans are rich snobs. Why don't they go the whole hog and state that we all live in stately homes, enjoy fox-hunting, were born in India (where Grandpapparrrrrrr FArquhar and Ninny Betsy owned a tea plantation), own horses, go shooting and vote Tory. I'm a primary school teacher brought up on a Manchester council estate. Stereotypical nonsense like this just p*sses me off, tbh. Oh and classical music does not boost my intelligence. It often just calms me down (most of the time) before and after a hard day teaching 6 year olds.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Merl said:


> ...live in stately homes, enjoy fox-hunting, were born in India (where Grandpapparrrrrrr FArquhar and Ninny Betsy owned a tea plantation), own horses, go shooting and vote Tory.


I say! Have you been spying on me???


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2018)

I agree with Merl in that it reinforces negative stereotypes about classical music listeners. Based on my own experience, very very few people exclusively listen to specific kinds of music and almost everyone I have ever met has had at least some contact with classical music and has no problem listening to it or even going out to see an opera or concert.


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

Merl said:


> What a pile of horse-pucky (thanks Woody for that term :lol that article is. It merely re-inforces the notion that all classical music fans are rich snobs. Why don't they go the whole hog and state that we all live in stately homes, enjoy fox-hunting, were born in India (where Grandpapparrrrrrr FArquhar and Ninny Betsy owned a tea plantation), own horses, go shooting and vote Tory. I'm a primary school teacher brought up on a Manchester council estate. Stereotypical nonsense like this just p*sses me off, tbh. Oh and classical music does not boost my intelligence. It often just calms me down (most of the time) before and after a hard day teaching 6 year olds.


But you don't dispute that it's true. I don't understand how people can deride research as being "horse-pucky" but still accept it as factually accurate, and (judging by the emotional level of your response) somehow important to the reader. You just deride because you don't like the results, which are factually true.

As a broke university student I wish I was seeing more of this trend in my own life though.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I of course listen to much classical music, all genres and periods, and have several thousand classical discs in my collection, including avant-garde electronic works. But I am not in the highest echelons of wealth, alas. So, for those of you who don't want me to continue feeling like an anomaly, know that I will accept monetary donations to help me achieve truer classical fanaticism status. I have no aversion against feeling like a classical music snob. It's just that at present I lack the income to do so. But I'm willing to change.


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2018)

BachIsBest said:


> But you don't dispute that it's true. I don't understand how people can deride research as being "horse-pucky" but still accept it as factually accurate, and (judging by the emotional level of your response) somehow important to the reader. You just deride because you don't like the results, which are factually true.
> 
> As a broke university student I wish I was seeing more of this trend in my own life though.


Same, broke university student here too.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Good news? When can I expect my first stipend cheque?


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Perhaps though, a good amount of true Classical fans tend to be "deep thinkers". I do love how against all of us are on these silly notions, but lets allow ourselves the credit we deserve.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I take it all back. I won the lottery last night. I'm buying a massive house in Cheadle, naming one of my children 'Pomegranate' and buying a yacht. Huzzah!!!!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

There may be a correlation between wealth and love of classical music, but that does not mean there is a cause/effect relationship, in one direction or the other.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

I am not in the highest echelons of wealth either, and I do know quite a few less than rich individuals who enjoy classical music. My scullery maid, for example, likes Monteverdi, my chauffeur enjoys Bruckner, and both of my full-time gardeners are huge fans of Debussy.

If there's a link between wealth and musical taste, I very much look forward to hearing the opinions of many a premiership footballer on the intrinsic qualities of Bartók's string quartets.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

In sociology, Pierre Bourdieu's theory about cultural capital - that power is not only about wealth but also social status and culture - has been established for decades. It has also been proven by countless surveys, research projects, studies etc. The big issue is social reproduction, about how culture is part of maintenance of a class system. Generally speaking, in Western countries the gap between the richest and poorest has been widening since about the 1970's.

In terms of music, age is also a big factor, so naturally the older age bracket associated with it would by middle or old age accumulate some level of wealth (even if just standard middle class). I think its a fair bet so say that if you are young and like (let alone play) classical music then you probably went to a private school. If not, perhaps you where part of the priveleged few who got a scholarship? 

The issue is that like many members of this forum I am educated but not rich, and for better or worse, I can hold a conversation about classical music, or to an extent other highbrow things like literature, visual art, history, and so on. Most concerts I have gone to are affordably priced, and I am not a regular concertgoer. I could never afford anything more expensive on a regular basis (eg. a seat to the Berlin Phil when it jets into town, or opera - which I hate anyway). At the same time, I am in a position of privilege relative to those who don't know (or don't care) who Beethoven is, or Shakespeare, or Michelangelo.

I remember an episode of Yes Minister where the advisor Sir Humphrey Appleby is trying to explain arts funding to the minister, who is proposing the money be diverted to sports because unlike culture most people like it. Appleby, without any sense of irony, says that the arts need to be funded by government because nobody is interested in it. The minister retorts that this is pure elitism, the money should be spent on things the people like not on what they should like, and that Appleby is just saying this because he likes to go to the opera (which, unsurprisingly, he does).


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## alan davis (Oct 16, 2013)

Lifelong Classical Music lover here and a plumber since 16 years of age. Certainly no billionaire but have done OK and being self employed, have never got the sack. Will enjoy this afternoon by listening to my latest recording of the Ring Cycle.


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2018)

alan davis said:


> Lifelong Classical Music lover here and a plumber since 16 years of age. Certainly no billionaire but have done OK and being self employed, have never got the sack. Will enjoy this afternoon by listening to my latest recording of the Ring Cycle.


Nice! Which recording is it?


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## alan davis (Oct 16, 2013)

The Melba live recording from the State Opera of South Australia's 2004 "Ring" cycle. Of the 6 
"Rings" I own this has by far the best sound.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

alan davis said:


> The Melba live recording from the State Opera of South Australia's 2004 "Ring" cycle. Of the 6
> "Rings" I own this has by far the best sound.


No doubt you enjoy the singers' amazing pipes! :lol:

_* I apologise unconditionally for Merl's awful plumber pun. I will have a word with him about it. Love, Merl's carer. X_


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