Inspired by Hunter Hawk’s poll on the Beatles.
Similar poll to follow.
It’s not like they really permeate the air waves anyway. I suppose it wouldn’t make a big difference.
No Chopin Etudes? No Requiem masses? No Vivaldi, Bach, Brahms, or Rachmaninoff?
I would be utterly devastated.
Here here. It wouldn’t be as bad as an unnecessary orchiectomy, but it would still be pretty darn bad.
I don’t listen to classical music on a daily (or even weekly) basis, but yeah, I wouldn’t want to do without it.
And speaking as somebody who has spent a lot of time at concerts across a variety of genres, something like Rite of Spring or the Ring cycle performed by a good troupe is one of the more impressive pieces of artistic performance you’re ever likely to see.
There are some I could live without. If I never again heard anything by, say, Dittersdorf, it wouldn’t leave a gaping hole in my life.
So unless you’re going to be more specific, I can’t pick “They were the best!” because they weren’t all “the best.”
And if you really want to be precise: By “the Classical Composers,” did you mean specifically those of the Classical era (as opposed to Baroque composers, Romantic composers, etc.?) Or did you mean anyone who wrote what is broadly termed “classical music” (with a small c)? Or something else?
Still, under just about any interpretation, my answer would be, Well, my happiness wouldn’t be destroyed, but it sure would be diminshed: I don’t want to live without them.
My answer here is the same as it was for the Beatles – #3. They all enrich my life.
Really, the only reason I didn’t pick option #4 was its silly wording.
Well, they’re pretty much all dead…so yeah, I could live without 'em.
Oh, you mean if they’d never been around, listened to, influenced others? I’m not even sure we’d have music today if that were the case. So no, couldn’t live without 'em.
Except…well, never mind, this is a hypothetical.
Given that I pretty much make my living off of them, I had to go for #4.
Option 2. I listen to Classical music frequently, and it would suck not to have it, but no single genre is absolutely essential, even a large encompassing one like Classical. It would only be in combination with other genres that fill a similar niche for me that it would be unbearable.
Sure we would. Making music is something that human beings just do.
I’m sure glad we have the classical composers, though. I was raised on Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Haydn et al. and wouldn’t want to let them go.
I don’t think I’ve had a day in 34 years when I haven’t played, sung, listened to or daydreamed about at least one piece of classical music.
I had a very grim 6 weeks in '76 - the first time I visited my sister’s ranch, her new husband actually hated music. There were no radio stations in range and the only albums he would tolerate were the Bay City Rollers and Barry Manilow. I spent a lot of time in my room with a guitar trying to play music I loved from memory.
Absolutely not. I’ve listened to them and loved them as long as I can remember. They’re a fundamental part of me. I don’t know how I’d go on living without that beauty and power. You’d have to kill the part of my brain that appreciates classical music, like killing certain visual areas in the brain not just blinds you but even removes the concept of sight so you don’t realize you’re blind.
As in any field of art there are some whose parents should have smothered them in the crib.
John Cage, I’m looking at you. And don’t try to hide behind Bela Bartok.
Although it does happen occasionally, classical is not what I choose when I feel like listening to music. But I’m always surprised at how much I enjoy it when I hear it.
I thought (I believe) much like Hilarity (may I call you by your first name?) did. I may not be a voracious direct consumer of their work, but without them what would Looney Tunes be like? How many people use that Fur Elise ringtone? To what tune would we sing the alphabet?
I’m not sure whether I’d want to live without it. Much of classical music gives me a rush that’s very much like an addiction. Going cold turkey would make life fairly unbearable.
I’ll listen to it once in a long while but I wouldn’t care at all really. There are tons of other stuff to listen to.
A world without classical music? THAT would truly suck.
“Classical composers” is kind of a vague term, as Thudlow Boink points out above, but I listen to classical music (in the broadest possible sense of the term) every day. I’m listening to Holst right now. I’ve been to two operas so far this season (Boris Godunov and Carmen) and will catch a few more (definitely including Wozzeck). Also chamber music performances.
Live without classical music? Good lord, no. Why would I want to do that?
As long as you don’t include anything Baroque or Medieval, sure, I’m cool with that.