# I call that Muzak!!!



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Are there specific "accepted" traditional, normal pieces of music, or famous composers of widely accepted "masterpieces" that lead you to risk the scorn of the consensus majority and/or history, and exclaim, "I call that Muzak!" ?

I'll start it out…John Williams!

Do I hear any Shostakovich?


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## loser (Sep 2, 2016)

Most of Tchaikovsky's.
And a huge amount of classical and romantic era pieces , specially violin music. And solo piano.
Yeah I better stop here.

And anyway , you can't say that about Shostakovich , at least not his violin sonata and and first violin concerto. Some nice music is heard there once in a while.


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## arnerich (Aug 19, 2016)

Barber's adagio for strings. I'm not saying it's a bad piece it just doesn't do anything for me.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Muzak is music that isn't intended to be listened to, but is designed to provide a blandly pleasant background to various commercial activities. More loosely (and disparagingly) the term is applied to "easy listening" music of various sorts.

A lot of well-composed, melodious music that's easily grasped and enjoyed by many people will now be cited as "Muzak" by people who want to show that they're superior to the Philistines who can't remember a tone row and don't know what they're expected to do while sitting for four minutes and thirty-three seconds.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> Muzak is music that isn't intended to be listened to, but is designed to provide a blandly pleasant background to various commercial activities. More loosely (and disparagingly) the term is applied to "easy listening" music of various sorts.
> 
> A lot of well-composed, melodious music that's easily grasped and enjoyed by many people will now be cited as "Muzak" by people who want to show that they're superior to the Philistines who can't remember a tone row and don't know what they're expected to do while sitting for four minutes and thirty-three seconds.


My advice: use the four minutes and thirty-three seconds to memorise the tone row.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Crudblud said:


> My advice: use the four minutes and thirty-three seconds to memorise the tone row.


What, and ruin the work of Zen Master Cage? Watch out, or you'll be mistaken for one of those melody-loving Philistines.


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## hans2002 (Sep 10, 2016)

sorry folks to ask this question because perhpas you can find it out of place, but i never got an answer in my research

But why John Lennon in his solo song 'How do you sleep?' 'The sound you make is muzak to my ears'


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> What, and ruin the work of Zen Master Cage? Watch out, or you'll be mistaken for one of those melody-loving Philistines.


Me? I'm just a good old fashioned capitalist, my philosophy of course being reducible to that most simple and elegant of aphorisms: time is money. By which convenient segue, I hereby plug my new piece _$4.33_, a recording of which will be available in all good retail outlets on the 15th of this month for the low low price of just $9.99. It'll be pure chaos in the malls - chaos, I tell ya!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Crudblud said:


> Me? I'm just a good old fashioned capitalist, my philosophy of course being reducible to that most simple and elegant of aphorisms: time is money. By which convenient segue, I hereby plug my new piece _$4.33_, a recording of which will be available in all good retail outlets on the 15th of this month for the low low price of just $9.99. It'll be pure chaos in the malls - chaos, I tell ya!


My God, if this is true it'll mean my first visit to a mall in five years.

But wait...Will the mall use it as Muzak? I never buy anything I can't listen to first.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

hans2002 said:


> sorry folks to ask this question because perhpas you can find it out of place, but i never got an answer in my research
> 
> But why John Lennon in his solo song 'How do you sleep?' 'The sound you make is muzak to my ears'


I do think everyone has an other opinion on muzak, for er Andre Rieu , Waldo de Los Rios is muzak, and not to forget James Last .


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## Antiquarian (Apr 29, 2014)

Pugg said:


> ...and not to forget James Last .


Who can forget him? My grandmother listened to him... I inherited her music collection, and now can enjoy "Happy Music" whenever I want!:lol:

But to answer the OP, Pachelbel's Canon in D major comes pretty close to classical Muzak.


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## Guest (Sep 11, 2016)

hans2002 said:


> sorry folks to ask this question because perhpas you can find it out of place, but i never got an answer in my research
> 
> But why John Lennon in his solo song 'How do you sleep?' 'The sound you make is muzak to my ears'


The song is reportedly a put-down of The Beatles, particularly Paul.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Muzak is music that isn't intended to be listened to, but is designed to provide a blandly pleasant background to various commercial activities.


That pretty much describes the Classical era.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

I've become sufficiently used to certain "difficult modern music" that I can have it on in the background and it blandly goes in one ear and out the other without me caring what I'm hearing - does that count?


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Anything with notes in the score. Not zen enough.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Antiquarian said:


> But to answer the OP, Pachelbel's Canon in D major comes pretty close to classical Muzak.


I think you are on to something.
I have previously said that I have never heard it now I know I have heard it. Probably I have heard it several times as background music in my life I have just thought of it as generic pretty music.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Antiquarian said:


> Who can forget him? My grandmother listened to him... I inherited her music collection, and now can enjoy "Happy Music" whenever I want!:lol:
> 
> But to answer the OP, Pachelbel's Canon in D major comes pretty close to classical Muzak.


Whose version? I wouldn't call Musica Antiqua Koln's rendition Muzak.

Seems to me Telemann's Tafelmusik, along with a range of works by Mozart (divertimenti etc.) almost fit the bill by definition.


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