CM Law enforcement !

[Amalie]

The Ecomomist magazine has an article about how department stores in the UK are playing classical music to disperse unruly/unwanted teenagers from hanging around outside department stores. Apparently Mozart is amazingly effective in dispersing teenagers.
This sounds all very sad to me that stores are using CM for all the wrong reasons. It sad to think that this is their first and probably their last contact with classical music is a means of social control. They would probably then associate classial music with Law enforcement & restraint instead of as an inexhaustable source of wonder and delight and education.
What would they think of Beethoven as a means of Law enforcement !



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~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~

[Gurn Blanston]

Amalie,
Someone else, I am quite sure it was Spaceray, posted last year that her city was playing the 9th for this same reason, and with great effectiveness. Apparently this has gotten around. AFAIK, this use of Mozart would only work with young rockers and Rod!

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Regards,
Gurn
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That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
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[King Stephen]

Originally posted by Amalie:


The Ecomomist magazine has an article about how department stores in the UK are playing classical music to disperse unruly/unwanted teenagers from hanging around outside department stores. Apparently Mozart is amazingly effective in dispersing teenagers.
This sounds all very sad to me that stores are using CM for all the wrong reasons. It sad to think that this is their first and probably their last contact with classical music is a means of social control. They would probably then associate classial music with Law enforcement & restraint instead of as an inexhaustable source of wonder and delight and education.
What would they think of Beethoven as a means of Law enforcement !

Amalie, I agree with what you say but I will go further and ask who is at fault for the reaction of the teenagers being chased away by Mozart and Beethoven. As a teacher of History and Appreciation of Classical music I find the fault is not with the teenager but with the parents, teachers and other grown ups that 'kids' find themselves around.
I think that the percentage of children who seek out classical music on their own is so small as to almost not matter at all. Here in the States malls have used opera to disperse teenagers. The children I teach range in age from eight to twelve. I won't say all or even the majority come away liking classical music but I will say that those that do like it seem to garnish a passion for it. I have come across kids that were in the program six years ago and they tell me what cd's they have bought without prompting. So.... If we can reach these children at an early age there is more of a likely hood that a good many of them will aquiring a taste for classical music. The major problem, at least here in the US, is programs like this are not funded. We seem to have plenty of money for sports but when it comes to the arts we seem to be broke. As a matter of fact my status is strictly as an unpaid volunteer. Call it a labor of love.

On the other hand, many a store I have been chased from because of the blaring sound of, for the lack of another word beside music, noise. This is especially true of record stores.

[Amalie]

Originally posted by King Stephen:
Amalie, I agree with what you say but I will go further and ask who is at fault for the reaction of the teenagers being chased away by Mozart and Beethoven. As a teacher of History and Appreciation of Classical music I find the fault is not with the teenager but with the parents, teachers and other grown ups that 'kids' find themselves around.
I think that the percentage of children who seek out classical music on their own is so small as to almost not matter at all. Here in the States malls have used opera to disperse teenagers. The children I teach range in age from eight to twelve. I won't say all or even the majority come away liking classical music but I will say that those that do like it seem to garnish a passion for it. I have come across kids that were in the program six years ago and they tell me what cd's they have bought without prompting. So.... If we can reach these children at an early age there is more of a likely hood that a good many of them will aquiring a taste for classical music. The major problem, at least here in the US, is programs like this are not funded. We seem to have plenty of money for sports but when it comes to the arts we seem to be broke. As a matter of fact my status is strictly as an unpaid volunteer. Call it a labor of love.

On the other hand, many a store I have been chased from because of the blaring sound of, for the lack of another word beside music, noise. This is especially true of record stores.

I do agree that parents and elders bear quite a large degree of responsibility.
A lot of it I think is to do with nurturing and making sure that the influences and things going into our heads are beneficial and educative, ie. in particular avoiding the appalling influence of tv. which I think has a particularly marked bad effect on children and in several studies has been shown to exacerbate attention deficit syndrome in minors, to that they find it difficult to come straight on anything.
One of the many wonderful things that classical music does is to stimulate mental processess and particularly memory and concentration, the very things that young people whose minds are developing, so desarately need. And that is without even considering classical musics inexhaustable other riches which can add immesurably to a young persons development.
I think it is up to the parents to counter peer pressure and for children to appreciate that Beethoven, Mozart etc. are really 'cool'.



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~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~

[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited 01-12-2005).]

[WoO]

This is all so saddening, because it's all so real, as a matter of fact. I've been listening to CM since boyhood (remember LPs? Just around my 40ies though ). I cannot tell why, but in LvB's symphonies I felt there was "something", and I listened so many times to "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" that I can't stand it anymore!
Anyway, some years ago I tried to introduce a fellow coworker to LvB's first PC. The answer I received still makes me wonder and still baffles me: "that kind of stuff is for old people"! Old people? She never listened to it, but remains a charming blonde girl notwithstanding
CM is a wonderful, wide world, spawning centuries, full of surprises and little gems as well, waiting to be discovered (or rediscovered ): I've just listened to the 3rd PC by Johann Samuel Schroeter (c1752-1788), a really joyful piece of music.
There is no greater bliss than to bring back to light (or to ear ) forgotten music, and to shed light on the painstaking work of people that created appealing melodies out of nowhere, by putting little dots on paper.

Regards,
WoO

[urtextmeister]

It is hard to imagine Mozart being offensive to someone, but I suppose it represents another generation to them--the establishment, adults, etc.
I would guess that if one or two of those kids were interested in classical music, they would go with their friends and never admit that they actually LIKED Mozart. Peer pressure. Saying they liked Mozart would be like wearing a three piece tweed suit to school--horribly uncool.

Are any of you familiar with the NPR show "From the Top"? This is a wonderful concept--a weekly show, website, etc. all about kids who play classical music.

I would have gone nuts over this show when I was a teenager.

[~Immortal Beloved~]

Originally posted by Amalie:


The Ecomomist magazine has an article about how department stores in the UK are playing classical music to disperse unruly/unwanted teenagers from hanging around outside department stores. Apparently Mozart is amazingly effective in dispersing teenagers.
This sounds all very sad to me that stores are using CM for all the wrong reasons. It sad to think that this is their first and probably their last contact with classical music is a means of social control. They would probably then associate classial music with Law enforcement & restraint instead of as an inexhaustable source of wonder and delight and education.
What would they think of Beethoven as a means of Law enforcement !

never heard nothing like this...teens getting scared of Classical Music? I just don't get it why are they so scared of it?..I guess it's the society on todays music that could be the problem?

[user222]

Originally posted by Amalie:


The Ecomomist magazine has an article about how department stores in the UK are playing classical music to disperse unruly/unwanted teenagers from hanging around outside department stores. Apparently Mozart is amazingly effective in dispersing teenagers.
This sounds all very sad to me that stores are using CM for all the wrong reasons. It sad to think that this is their first and probably their last contact with classical music is a means of social control. They would probably then associate classial music with Law enforcement & restraint instead of as an inexhaustable source of wonder and delight and education.
What would they think of Beethoven as a means of Law enforcement !

Maybe one day they'll meet a kid who sings classical music with profanity as the lyrics, and does other bad things as well...

[spaceray]

Originally posted by King Stephen:


On the other hand, many a store I have been chased from because of the blaring sound of, for the lack of another word beside music, noise. This is especially true of record stores.

Steve,
It's impossible to shop anymore ,that damn noise is everywhere you go, in the shops and supermarkets, in the Drs office,in the elevator,and worst of all in the workplace.
I was fired from a job once for yarding the boom box cord out of the wall and chopping off the plug with the meat cleaver. I was driven to insanity by a constant hammering of HIDEOUS so called music.

I won't even work in the industry anymore ,there are no kitchen jobs that come san Rock and Roll.

Space

[JA Gardiner]

Originally posted by user222:
Maybe one day they'll meet a kid who sings classical music with profanity as the lyrics, and does other bad things as well...

I seem to remember a certain young Wolfie of Vienna who would have fitted that bill nicely!

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Beethoven the Man!

[Peter]

Originally posted by spaceray:
Steve,
It's impossible to shop anymore ,that damn noise is everywhere you go, in the shops and supermarkets, in the Drs office,in the elevator,and worst of all in the workplace.
I was fired from a job once for yarding the boom box cord out of the wall and chopping off the plug with the meat cleaver. I was driven to insanity by a constant hammering of HIDEOUS so called music.

I won't even work in the industry anymore ,there are no kitchen jobs that come san Rock and Roll.

Space

This is something that very much bothered Yehudi Menuhin who thought there should be a law against it - I agree! It is absolutely mind-numbingly awful, a ghastly intrusion into our lives and I think clothes shops are some of the worst. I don't even like it when they play classical music - there is a time and a place for everything and Vivaldi does not go with buying underwear and cat food! Of course we even get it on the phone in this age of talking to machines. People really don't seem to appreciate the value of silence, so they never develop the art of listening and consequently cannot appreciate classical music which demands a concentration span of more than a few seconds.

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'Man know thyself'

[Joy]

I agree Peter. Very well said! There is definitely a time and place for everything and classical music fits into that group.

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[This message has been edited by Joy (edited 05-14-2005).]

[spaceray]

Originally posted by Peter:
People really don't seem to appreciate the value of silence, so they never develop the art of listening and consequently cannot appreciate classical music which demands a concentration span of more than a few seconds.

I absolutely agree with this statement.
I read recently that new parents were advised to put their babies to sleep without turning off the noisy music,to train them to sleep in spite of the cacophony.
What the heck are they training them for? Prison

[Peter]

Originally posted by spaceray:
I absolutely agree with this statement.
I read recently that new parents were advised to put their babies to sleep without turning off the noisy music,to train them to sleep in spite of the cacophony.
What the heck are they training them for? Prison

Yes and of course it isn't just the art of listening and concentration that is lost, whether it be music or the sounds of nature, but perhaps even more importantly the spiritual growth that comes from silence and listening to the inner self - silence is indeed golden!

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'Man know thyself'

[This message has been edited by Peter (edited 05-14-2005).]

[Amalie]

I totally agree Peter, it is the interior vioce that the greatest music speaks to, and to which we listen, so the greatests composers are also spiritual masters.



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~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~