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Sounds like what I'd do... lol
Maybe if more people were to learn how to play
a classical instrument they'd appreciate the music.
I don't know about you all, but ever since playing
the violin I've come to appreciate and respect
classical music more than ever before.

i think people dont like classical music because they werent around it when they were little, they were raised listening to modern music, i was raised listening to 'The Classical Child' and i also when to a catholic church which means i had listened to classical hymns alot. its hard to change someones like of music .-.

It's not that people don't like classical music it's a matter of appreciating old music. People of the romantic era likewise didn't listen to a lot of baroque music because it was "tired and old" too. All music we have now is a continuation of times past as music has always been. Gregorian Chant is gorgeous but people in the classical era also considered it old and tired and boring. In the strive for tastes of music, people have gotten very extreme after the 20th century.

There is a big sociological factor to take in: the world wars. Artists and sociologists were looking for what to do with themselves after the wars. There was a general idea that it was the ways of the old that lead to the wars, and there were several movements, the musical world included, that strived for an entirely different sound, away from the past to move as far away as possible from human nature's horrific ways. People appreciated the new pop, rock, and jazz crazes (which are in fact continuations of the past and absolutely just as much musically in-depth as classical in many cases). But these people grow, and reproduce, playing to their children only their music of choice, the pop, rap, rock etc, while forgetting classical. When asked what classical is, the parents obviously don't want to listen to any of it, and often tell their children it's old and boring.

But you'll notice people who say that they hate classical say they love soundtracks, especially to video games like the Final Fantasy Series, or to movies like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Well folks, it's a continuation of the past, it just happens to have western European instruments. People tend to appreciate it more when they see how it relates to music they do like, the problem is most people don't want to give it a chance, with a mind already made up and closed.

I think about this far too much. So this is probably going to turn into a fairly substantial wall of text...

Did people ever listen to classical music? I mean, obviously somebody did, but the vast majority of the populace, for much of western musical history simply couldn't hear it. Farmers weren't singing Bach's cantatas as they worked their fields; that era was dominated by the patron system, so naturally most of the music was written for the patrons, who were all rich, upper-class types. As time has gone on, that patronage system has broken down, but it took quite some time, and classical music was still seen as a pastime for the wealthier segment of the population. Russian serfs were not listening to Tchaikovsky. So it's possible that a greater percentage of the population listens to classical music now than in previous eras, especially with the advent of recording and broadcasting technologies.

The division goes a long way back. Folksongs have always been different from classical music, although they were occasionally incorporated, especially during various folk song revivals. Most popular music today can be traced quite readily back through rock 'n' roll, R&B, jazz, ragtime, spirituals, and various other roots. Everything's a continuation of what's come before; they're just on different tracks.

And they are quite different. What you listen for in a classical piece is different from what you listen for in a rock song. Rock songs, being songs, are all about the words and the stories they tell. The musical structure is generally rather repetitive, in some variation of verse-chorus form. But the lyrics change, and that's what holds your interest. The music still counts, but the words carry much more of the burden. Classical music is generally the other way around. You can enjoy Beethoven 9 without knowing exactly what the choir is singing. You can enjoy a Hindemith sonata that doesn't have any words at all.

Ultimately, it all boils down to the emotional connection. If it isn't there, you won't enjoy the music. And this is where things can get a little screwy, especially when it comes to trying to introduce fellow teenagers to classical music. Because, from my personal experience, most non-fans think of Bach an Mozart when they think of classical music. And while these composers are brilliant at what they do, and highly accomplished and respected, they're generally pretty emotionally bland. There's little moody introspection in Mozart, and while Bach has his quiet moments, they're generally not very emotionally hard-hitting.

Length is also a key feature. If you're used to musical ideas coming to fruition in about five minutes, a Mahler symphony is going to be utterly incomprehensible and boring as hell, because you're going to lose track of what's going on. Even I can't always get my head around him.

So I've found that playing short, modern things works best. Accessibility is necessary, but so is emotional heft. Teens especially, but people in general, are under a great deal of pressure more or less relentlessly. And with an audience in that condition, it's pretty easy to come off as pompous, didactic, and uninteresting.

So yeah. That's my take. O.o Text!

What Amphion said. Classical music has always been for a very small elite. First Kings and Queens, now the University ivory tower.

My own musical tradition is opera and operetta, so when it gets to 20th century stuff, I relate more to Rodgers and Hammerstein than I do anything from the Second Vienna School. I think most people probably like it in small doses along those sorts of fringes. If they don't, it's really their loss and my gain.

That's why I can buy a Naxos album for 10 dollars, while some sucker pays 30 for a garbage fratboy rock album. That's why I can goto the orchestra for 20 bucks when they pay hundreds of dollars for concert tickets. I've given up trying to persuade people; let them simmer in their own mass marketed swill... mrgreen

My take (mostly influenced by Bernstein, because I just read his "The Infinite Variety of Music" - check it out!):

I think our culture, at least American culture, is actually inundated with music. Everywhere we go, there's music playing -- the mall, the movies before the show starts, restaurants -- we can't live without the stuff constantly in the background.

The result? Over-saturation. Most people block it out completely, and indeed, most people don't realize the music was ever there until it's stopped for whatever reason. We've got people around the country hearing music, a lot of it classical, I think, but not listening.

That is where true appreciation lies -- if the average person were to take five minutes out of their day to listen to what's going on in the music, I believe there would be a massive change. In fact, it's a change that I would love to see happen, if only to get us back to a time where music really really mattered.

After all, there was a time music was only for Kings and courts -- they even kept it hidden, so it was a privilege to listen to the performers and composers the court had holed up. But it then grew from the churches and then the courts, and people started copying things down to show to others and to play and sing for themselves.

It's like listeners began as an honored audience, became performers themselves, and then were elevated to the status of the court with the onset of recordings (music, whenever we want, without having to work for it?). That time is passed though (probably because everyone isn't lucky enough to have their own personal composer). So there's nothing new to listen to, and what is so familiar it's just part of everyday life fades into the background.

I personally study music, and only after being taught to listen did I realize how much I was missing around me. It was like waking up suddenly....

At any rate, my two cents. redface

Wow, your guys cases are quite extreme to me. I remember one time my teacher played classical music in the middle of class, and people didn't seem to mind at all! and I sometimes actually invite my friends to my youth symphony concerts and they seem to like it...and want to come again! and when my school orchestra plays at assemblies, we usually get good response! not just polite clapping, but whooping and cheering, and at one time a standing ovation o.o maybe it's just where I live xD