AURAL SOMINEX?

posted by James Reel

    Rich Russell objects to radio announcers promoting classical music as “relaxing,” and so do I. What Rich probably doesn’t realize is that there’s a widespread, consultant-generated effort among radio stations to assure potential listeners that classical music is “relaxing”—hence, not threatening—because a survey taken a few years ago revealed that many people used that very word to describe the music. (Whether they came up with that term on their own or it was one of several loaded expressions offered by the canvassers is unclear to me.)
    Our music director, Steve Hahn, mentioned in a staff meeting a few weeks ago that more recent interpretation of that research indicates that people don’t really believe that classical music is relaxing, it’s just a convenient word they use to set the music apart from the high-decibel assault of even the most innocuous pop music today. So all they mean is that it’s “different,” perhaps less invasive, than certain other kinds of music. Well, maybe that’s a little closer to the truth, but Beethoven symphonies and Carmina Burana—some of the most popular classical works among people who don’t count themselves as hard-core classical fans—are in their way just as invasive as any stadium rock band. Sure, there’s plenty of aimless classical piffle out there (the Elgar Violin Concerto, anyone?), but anybody who thinks that classical music on the whole is “relaxing” just isn’t paying attention.
    But then, how many people really sit and pay attention to the radio anymore?