[eljr]

You answer your own question by resourcing the dictionary.

"the attitude or behavior of a person or group who regard themselves as an elite"

This is certainly the perception of those outside of classical music toward classical music enthusiasts. In fact, it is often the attitude displayed here from one poster to another.

 

[eljr]

The charge of 'elitism' only sticks if one group thinks itself in some way superior to another, .

or

is it when one group thinks they are inferior to another?

The latter has been my experience.

 

[eljr]

Some people are already envisioning the VR future. A large room in your house will be dedicated to VR and you'll be able to manipulate orchestra players to perform anything that you can think of, with the aid of advanced AI.

No more years of learning and composing and practicing.. As I see it this will change humans, and NOT for the better.

Why would it not be for the better?

 

[eljr]

I don't think I've ever written either word, (and I won't do so now) but this has been my experience as well. They seem to express resentment toward anything that makes one feel inferior.

I see this in all aspects of life.

This is by no means confided to classical music.

A secure person seldoms sees elitism or arrogance in another. An insecure person sees it all around him. Especially when they are "out of their element" or have an inordinate attachment to the mores of their tribe.

 

[eljr]

To me it means predominant progressivism in music, like mingling with mathematical experiments to a degree that almost phases out of musical traditional norms.

That is so strange. I think it means very much the opposite.

 

[eljr]

I've been called a snob and, honestly, I don't even care. If having excellent taste in music and high musical standards is considered snobbery, then so be it.

What is having "excellent taste in music"?

I think I know what you mean by high musical standards but would enjoy conformation, would be so kind as to define that too?

Thanks

 

[eljr]

A follow-up to my post, I remember this one time at work a woman sat across from me in the the break room and asked "What kind of music do I like?" and I said "Classical music". She said "Oh, I have a lot of classical songs on my iPhone." Ordinarily, I would've let this slip by me, but I felt it was my duty to correct her. I replied in a civil way and as nice as I could be, "Actually, in classical music they're not called songs, but are called either pieces or works." She looked at me, slammed her chair into the table angrily and said "You're lame!" I just rolled my eyes and continued to enjoy my snack. You simply cannot correct ignorance --- it's too rampant.

To be fair, there are some classical pieces that can fairly be called songs. But yes, generally pieces or works.

I do enjoy her reaction, lol.

 

[eljr]

To be clear, I care regarding organizing a collection but not rating one genre as inherently of better quality than another. So, in organizing my collection I would shelve film soundtracks in a different area than Classical CDs, just a I would have the Jazz some place else, etc.

You already made this clear.

 

[eljr]

As I see the world, nothing is more important to most people than belonging to a group and being respected and valued by other people in their group. Music and other aspects of culture -- dialect, styles of clothing, religion -- is ordinarily a way of reaffirming group membership.

In complex hierarchical societies, the ruling elite form a group and as usual music is one of the ways that they affirm each other's membership in the group. Probably every society that has had a court has had court music. Of course each particular society develops its own particular idiosyncrasies.

You totally get it. Very well put.

 

[eljr]

You mention clothing and you look at someone like Steve Jobs, who was famous for wearing cheap casual clothes, that sort of slumming it goes back to the French Revolution. The sans-culottes didn't wear wigs and ditched breeches for ordinary work wear, basically amounting to a rough suit and pants set, which was eventually taken up by the bourgeois.

This is how trends tend to change, and although it inevitably starts on the streets, it becomes more legit when people who matter take it up. The thing is though that someone like Steve Jobs can set a trend by doing something ordinary, but if I wore a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers to work, my boss would say "What are you doing?" :lol:

In business we seek our the innovator (starts on the streets) to wear our products. Then we market to the early adaptors (people who matter).
Once it hits the mass market, the innovator has moved on. If you allow your product to reach what we call the laggards, it is done.

 

[eljr]

what I know for sure is that there are better and worse ways to appreciate classical music, and I strive to do it in the best ways only.

Can you explain a bit for a classical music novice such as myself? Thanks

 

[eljr]

there's something uniquely off-putting when I see a rich person trying to sell himself as a salt-of-the-earth ordinary guy.

You mean EVERY modern country singer, I think.

 

[eljr]

I think it's fair to ask- what *specifically* people get out of classical music that sets it apart from other music

it would make an excellent thread