Classical Music for the Nonclassical Listener

I had the wonderful privilege this last week of working with some students at Bishop O'Connell High School during their pre-school strings camp. It was a great time for me to meet kids who are so excited about music that they'll come into school for a camp even before the official start of the school year and to get to talk to them.

One of the things we talked about was what kind of music they liked to listen to - and interestingly enough to me, classical wasn't one of the things on the list. I listen to the weirdest mix of things in my own life. Classical, of course, but I also really like Taylor Swift. I like Celtic-inspired music, so I listen to bands like Flogging Molly, Enter the Haggis, and Great Big Sea. I also like a lot of local indie artists that my sister Margaret takes me to see such as Taylor Carson and Laura Tsaggaris. But classical music has always had a certain pull for me.

So, for the music lover who doesn't love classical music yet, I'm starting this blog series and I hope this will introduce you to at least ONE classical work that you like, and possibly more.

Firstly, for the person who likes movie soundtracks - Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, etc. I'm presenting a small case study for you. In honor of Discovery Channel's Shark Week, which I am incredibly excited about, I give you...one of the most iconic movie themes of all time, written by John Williams - JAWS!

Now I invite you to take a listen to the opening (or, if you like it, the whole thing!) of Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World."

This symphony by Dvorak was composed in 1893, some 80+ years before Jaws was released. All the great movie soundtrack composers come from a long, rich history of symphonic tradition. There are a lot of great symphonies where you can hear similar sounds. There is also a lot of music composed that's called "program music," meaning that there is a specific story that the music is trying to depict. In subsequent blog posts, I'll be presenting some of those works and their stories to you. I'll also introduce you to some classical music that even a hard core rocker might fall for.

I'm really passionate about classical music, and I really do think it still deserves a place on our mp3 players, our hard drives, in our cd collections, and in our hearts. I hope I'll convince some of you of that, too.