“Classical” music has a braided existence of ennui, moments of exhilaration, and moments of absurdity. It is not a casual music, and it is rarely cathartic like a pop anthem rock song. The more “Classical” music is studied i.e. listened to, the more it becomes a part of you, like your favorite pop tune that you whistle. Art music, instrumental or choral, or both require patience to love. This “art music” has to be cultivated in your musical garden, by listening. Listening is the watering of your “Classical” garden, if you will. Stravinsky once said that he wanted to compose music that people would walk on, essentially so-called “elevator music.” But isn't that what “Classical” music has become to our culture, with all of our pop sensibilities? We walk on it, it is background music, like that when you are put on hold on the telephone.

As a musician, I invite you to listen to that “background” music. In my musical training I was first and foremost trained to listen and perceive. And so I do. When I'm in the supermarket I hear the music playing over the intercom, and I'll occasionally sing along if I'm so inclined. I can pick out one of my favorite songs playing in a crowded restaurant. Our culture so much teaches us to block out and ignore noise/music by playing in continually. So I say listen, even if it is instrumental “Classical” music. Imagine what the musicians look like playing their music, imagine what instruments might be involved in such a piece. Imagine beauty or passion, or whatever you think the composer was trying to depict by their composition. Music without words gives us a lot of work to do mentally, and a lot of times we do not know what to do with that freedom. We must take heart anyway.