A note to the classically insecure

[jbuck919]

I offer the following for your consideration without necessarily agreeing with its necessity or with any specific point made.


A Note to the Classically Insecure
By Miles Hoffman
Mr. Hoffman is a classical violist and radio commentator.
April 18, 2018


I was talking about music recently with a friend who makes his living cloning genes, manipulating molecules and investigating the pathways of the human immune system. This is a person whose intellectual molecules are clearly very well arranged. But he proceeded to tell me that although he loved classical music, when he listened to it he wasn’t able to perceive anything other than his own emotional reactions.
Could it be true? Well, he thought it was. But he was wrong.
What my friend was expressing was merely a symptom of a common affliction, one that crosses all intellectual, social and economic classes: the Classical Music Insecurity Complex. Immediate therapy was indicated.
There’s no question, I pointed out, that he perceives more than just his own reactions. Lots more. In every piece he listens to he perceives changes, both great and small, in tempo, volume, pitch and instrumentation. He perceives melodies, harmonies and rhythms, and their patterns. He perceives, in short, virtually all the musical ingredients that composers manipulate to stimulate emotional effects, which is precisely why he’s emotionally affected. His “problem” isn’t perception — it’s description. And what he doesn’t know is the jargon, the technical terms for the ingredients and manipulations.
And why should he? He’s a scientist, not a musician. And frankly, it’s not even essential that he be aware of the specific musical and technical means by which his reactions are being stimulated.

Years ago I was rehearsing a piece for flute, viola and piano by the composer Seymour Barab. Mr. Barab was attending the rehearsal, and the pianist asked him at one point if it was important to “bring out,” or highlight, a certain clever rhythmic pattern. Mr. Barab’s instant reaction was to shout: “No! It’s none of your business!”
Mr. Barab’s position, expressed in his inimitable fashion, was that it was not the performer’s job to try to teach the audience, nor was it the audience’s responsibility to try to pass some sort of test in rhythm recognition. If he, the composer, had done his job well, and had organized and manipulated his musical materials in a compelling fashion, the music would “work,” and the audience would enjoy it.
It’s sad but true that many people denigrate and distrust their own reactions to classical music out of fear that they don’t “know enough,” and that other, more sophisticated folks know more. When people leave the movie theater they rarely hesitate to give their opinion of the movie, and it never occurs to them that they don’t have a right to that opinion. And yet after most classical music concerts you can swing your program around from any spot in the lobby and hit a dozen perfectly capable and intelligent people issuing apologetic disclaimers: “Boy, I really loved that — but I’m no expert” or “It sounded pretty awful to me, but I don’t really know anything, so I guess I just didn’t get it.”
At least those people showed up. Many others are too intimidated to attend classical concerts at all.
It’s human nature to want to know more, and to try to understand and explain our experiences and reactions. And there’s no denying that the more we know about music, as with cooking or gardening or football, the more levels of enjoyment are available to us, and the better we’re able to recognize great achievement. Do we have to know the Latin names of flowers — or the English names, for that matter — to be moved by the beauty of a garden? No. Do we have to know about blocking schemes and “defensive packages” to be excited when our team scores a touchdown? No. But we find these things … interesting. They add to our appreciation.

I’m all for knowledge — I’ve spent most of my career as a musician and commentator trying to help people learn more about music, and to remove any obstacles to the enjoyment of it. The Classical Music Insecurity Complex is a barrier of discomfort. Experience, exposure and familiarity play critical roles in helping to lower that barrier, and a little learning, along with basic explanations of technical (and foreign) terms and concepts, can be of great value.
What is not of value, and is in fact completely off-putting and counterproductive, is the kind of introductory concert talk, review or program note that uses technical terms rather than plain English to explain other technical terms and to “describe” musical works. Program notes that use phrases like “the work features a truncated development with chromatic modulations to distant keys and modally inflected motivic cells,” for example, do not exactly help to break down barriers and put people at ease.
Perhaps it’s overly optimistic of me, but I still cling to the hope that, with the right approaches and experiences, longtime sufferers will feel sufficiently encouraged to go ahead and jettison the C.M.I. Complex outright. I’d like the legions of actual and potential classical music lovers to believe that, like my friend the scientist, they hear more than they can name, and that the very point of listening to great music is to be moved, not to put names on what moves you.


Miles Hoffman is the violist of the American Chamber Players and the classical music commentator for NPR’s “Morning Edition.”
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.
A version of this article appears in print on April 19, 2018, on Page A27 of the New York edition with the headline: Don’t Fear Classical Music.


© 2018 The New York Times Company

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/18/opin ... ght-region

[Rach3]

Thanks ! I feel better, already.

[Modernistfan]

Very good points. I myself am a scientist by training (in biochemistry and molecular biology, the same field as Mr. Hoffman's insecure friend) with a subsequent law degree. I have never played an instrument and can barely read music. Still, I have tried to learn. I would be unlikely to spot the "chromatic modulations" mentioned by Mr. Hoffman, though.

[Lance]

A really excellent article. It even makes me think about the way we talk about music. On my weekly radio broadcast now for 50 years, I attempt to not discuss "harmonic modulations," which the majority of listeners would not comprehend anyway, and might otherwise discourage them because "they don't know enough." Instead, I talk about the music to educate as much as possible in layman's terms, when composed, possible influences, and the artist performing. To take the "elitist" attitude of what embraces the whole of "classical music," that has done more to turn people off than on to classical music. On many classical music programs I hear via radio, many times nothing is said except to name the selection being aired and who performs it. Thus the listening audience is not imparted with any information that may make them move forward to want learn and understand more. It is a deep subject. It is said that only about five percent of the population "take" to classical music; if I have done nothing else, I hope that all my own efforts via radio and discussion with others would move that to a higher percentage with each passing year. I like to think it has. Thank you for posting this.

[John F]

I'm not so impressed. Hoffmann locates what he calls a "Classical Music Insecurity Complex" in whether people can talk intelligibly about the music they hear. But I've known any number of people who can't talk about music as such, or understand analytical program notes, who like classical music very much and aren't at all insecure about it, just as they and others visit art museums without feeling the need to talk about the art in a sophisticated way, or feeling insecure if they can't. He goes on to acknowledge that what matters is exposure to the music and llking it, with no need to say why. Right - but that doesn't need an essay or a catch phrase to "sell" it.

[THEHORN]

Excellent article . I remember the commentary of Miles Hoffmann on an NPR classical music program whose name I don't recall offhand , and his explanations of classical music terminology etc were the kind which are extremely helpful to people who may like classical music but don't know much about it .
I do a classical music program at United Hebrew , a nursing home in New Rochelle ,NY for elderly and infirm people , and play a wide variety of classical music on CDs for them . I always try to explain the music and tell them something about the composers . They really seem to enjoy the music .

[Belle]

In our community music group (we have 43 enrolled) there are presenters, like myself, with musical experience and knowledge. The vast majority of our audience has no musical training but they sit there with pens and paper taking notes and are very enthusiastic with questions. I don't get the slightest sense of them feeling 'insecure' when I or my peers stray into arcane territory over music. I usually hand them sheets with 'glossary' written on them and other useful notes relating to the discussion. Two years ago I did a program about "Polyphony" and I discussed a Bach keyboard fugue. I passed around the room a copy of the score with all the parts of the fugue highlighted with different colours so that they could see 'linearity' in Bach. From my years in teaching I learned that some people are 'visual learners' and I adopt this approach in my lectures/presentations. And you can sell an awful lot to people by making eye contact with them (you can gauge whether they're getting it) and being enthusiastic.

Last weekend we were at a dinner party put on by one of our audience members. We talked about another of our presenters who has thorough knowledge of musical theatre and who does brilliant power point presentations. My friend said to me, "it doesn't work; he doesn't have the passion that you do"!! Yes, that was a buzz.

[Ricordanza]

Good article. I've encountered several folks who have responses to classical music that are similar to the author's microbiologist friend. When they make comments that reflect that insecurity or intimidation, I encourage them to appreciate the music at the level that makes them comfortable.

[maestrob]

Good article. I've encountered several folks who have responses to classical music that are similar to the author's microbiologist friend. When they make comments that reflect that insecurity or intimidation, I encourage them to appreciate the music at the level that makes them comfortable.

Exactly right! The audience is the ultimate judge of the success of a work. You can foist some noise (or 4' 33" of silence) on people one time, but if there's not an audience for repeat performances, then the work dies a well-deserved ignominious death. Naming no names, of course.