Musical taste is a very personal thing and what sounds wonderful to one person can be quite terrible to another. I listened to Bradley Wiggins on Desert Island Discs this morning, and although he was mildly interesting, it was clear that his taste in music had almost no overlap with mine. For those who are not familiar with this radio 4 programme, guests are interviewed and asked to select eight discs that they would want to take to a desert Island. Though I will never be a guest on the programme, I have tried this exercise many times and probably come up with a different list each time.
Some people would like to see classical music forced upon children from a very early age, an interesting notion in theory, but as the vast majority of adults seem to have no interest in classical music, I don't see that it would work in practice. Music is something that comes to us via our day to day lives and so our tastes grow from our own experiences. For many children today, their musical experiences are more likely to come from video games and Youtube. They do have access to a wealth of material but probably much of what is available will go unexplored.
As I write I am listening to Mahler; something that I never used to enjoy. I had a friend at college who listened to very little else and at the time I could not appreciate what he was obviously enjoying. Over the years I have persevered and now his music is by and large a delight. So yes, tastes can change, even at my advanced age I can still adapt and adjust to new things, though I must say that Rap and Hip Hop leave me cold and uninspired.
There are moves to include the Beatles into the curriculum, GCSE music is to undergo changes in some sort of effort to broaden the experience of our children, but I suspect that they will still manage to find their own likes and dislikes, fashion and peer pressure count for a lot, and then of course there is Simon Cowell and his ilk who and the main drivers of popular music today.
I like to think that my own tastes ate eclectic, but of course they will be very different from those of anyone who chances to read this. On the off chance that one day a grandchild may possibly stumble upon this, then I will include my current eight choices.
1. The Vespers of 1610 by Monteverdi.
2. The Division Bell by Pink Floyd.
3. The Dream of Gerontius by Sir Edward Elgar.
4. Tuesday Afternoon by The Moody Blues
5. Missa Page Lingua by Josquin Des Pres
6. Budapest by Jethro Tull.
7. Missa Papae Marcelli by Palestrina.
8. Dantes Prayer by Loreena McKennit
Some people would like to see classical music forced upon children from a very early age, an interesting notion in theory, but as the vast majority of adults seem to have no interest in classical music, I don't see that it would work in practice. Music is something that comes to us via our day to day lives and so our tastes grow from our own experiences. For many children today, their musical experiences are more likely to come from video games and Youtube. They do have access to a wealth of material but probably much of what is available will go unexplored.
As I write I am listening to Mahler; something that I never used to enjoy. I had a friend at college who listened to very little else and at the time I could not appreciate what he was obviously enjoying. Over the years I have persevered and now his music is by and large a delight. So yes, tastes can change, even at my advanced age I can still adapt and adjust to new things, though I must say that Rap and Hip Hop leave me cold and uninspired.
There are moves to include the Beatles into the curriculum, GCSE music is to undergo changes in some sort of effort to broaden the experience of our children, but I suspect that they will still manage to find their own likes and dislikes, fashion and peer pressure count for a lot, and then of course there is Simon Cowell and his ilk who and the main drivers of popular music today.
I like to think that my own tastes ate eclectic, but of course they will be very different from those of anyone who chances to read this. On the off chance that one day a grandchild may possibly stumble upon this, then I will include my current eight choices.
1. The Vespers of 1610 by Monteverdi.
2. The Division Bell by Pink Floyd.
3. The Dream of Gerontius by Sir Edward Elgar.
4. Tuesday Afternoon by The Moody Blues
5. Missa Page Lingua by Josquin Des Pres
6. Budapest by Jethro Tull.
7. Missa Papae Marcelli by Palestrina.
8. Dantes Prayer by Loreena McKennit
2 comments:
What happened to The Lady of Shallot?
I think she died.
The list changes almost on a daily basis; so much to choose from and so many moods.
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