Thursday, May 05, 2005

Sexing Up Classical Music

One scarcely knows whether to laugh or weep at this:

"Which is really a travesty of the truth, because classical music is mostly full of sex, or to put it better, eroticism - it's just that it's hidden, buried in music's grammar. Every time you hear a dissonance (a tense-sounding interval or chord) melt into a consonant one, you're hearing the basic erotic pattern of arousal and relief. That's true even in the chaste polyphony of Renaissance church music (which is why some of it doesn't sound half as chaste as it ought to)." link.

Um, Ok. Anyhoo, back at the ranch, there does seem a move to "sex" up classical music on the marketing side of things. Is it making a difference --apart from spicing up CD album covers and giving otherwise bored scribblers something to yammer on about? Not likely -- at least not if you're counting the beans. Just ask Terry Teachout.

And just where is all the classical sexiness? Well,look around you at the next concert or opera that you attend. See anything sexy? Uh, not likely (oh sure there's little starlight here and there amid the dark and drab and gray of the evening), but largely it's just empty seats, gray hair, and nervous types who probably suffer from various allergies.

In fact, it probably is more likely (just as a sort of unscientific field experiement) that you'll observe much more of a concern with class than gender.

Until then, there's always this:

The Ultimate Guide to the Hottest Women in Classical Music. Scary.

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