I Don't Look Down On Them - I Pity Them !
Many people who are not fans of classical music assume that if you are, you must be a snob who looks down on those who don't share your rarified tastes . This may be true in some cases , but as for me, I don't look down on people who know little or nothing about classical music and have never made it a part of their lives - I pity them !
They just don't know what they're missing . If they die without ever having heard the music of Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Wagner, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky and the many other great composers , they will will never realize what they have been missing . What a pity ! They will never have have gotten a chance to experience the sublime Mass in B Minor of Bach , and never have experienced the thrill of Beethoven's 9th . They may have heard the famous melody of the Ode to Joy, but that is NOT the symphony itself, just a famous melody .
They will never enjoy the sensuous and atmospheric La Mer(the sea), of Debussy , the vivid evoacation of the Arabian Nights of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherezade , or the rambunctious humor of "Till Eulenspiegel;s Merry Pranks" by Richard Strauss . Or the majestic Cathedrals in sound which are the symphonies of Bruckner, the brooding nordic nature painting in the music of Finland's Jean Sibelius, These are only a tiny handful of all the wonderful music that's so easy to experience today, with the easy availability of classical CDs,DVDs, and classical music on the internet .
They will never experience the thrill of a great night at the opera , with great singers chewing the scenery and singing their hearts out . The great operas of Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Richard Strauss, Leos Janacek and others will remain a closed book to them . As I've pointed out before , classical music is a feast , yet so many people are starving for great music . What a shame .