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Why did RUclips recommend to me this absolute tripe? 💩

Congratulations on your video. The only thing you proved is that you're a clueless dolt.

This is sooo tedious. A manufactured problem. When was any human being actually told they weren't welcome in a symphony hall? Who was ever told "You are forbidden to play the viola!" No-one. The elitism is not from classical musicians. It's right here. It's called clickbait.

We do not understand music as a possible language because we no not know the rules that could exist to truly transmit a message. Let's take for example the any known language. For the very beginning children had been teach to understand certain sounds (words) and their meaning. Let´s say "mother". The world mother has a specific sound in English, and learning by listening hundreds of times, that sound meaning is memorise by the brain with the associated meaning. That is a language. By the same token IF we take the sound of several sequence of notes, let´s say "do, mi, do" and teach a child that that sequence is "mother", music certainly could be use as an universal language. For humans having hundreds of languages only impose very big difficulties to understand each other. Using "do, mi, do" will not cause any difficulties to teach and can be used universally. The combinations of sounds and tempos could be used perfectly as a language. The fact that anybody could create music is the proof that the human mind is capable of use music as a universal language, IF, everybody learns the meaning of infinite combinations of sounds. Right now we work as humans using combinations of sounds as a language, so a wise step in the distant future is using music as a universal language.

Music is what gets people grooving to the same groove. Assuming they are familiar with that type of groove

Are you aware that there is some weird background music going on whilst you're speaking?

You could argue whether or not Shostakovich was a "secret protester" against the Soviet system. What you can't argue with is that he was its victim. For that at least the evidence is plentiful. As regards hidden messages in his music - one argument that does convince me is the shared motivic material between Symphony no. 5 that you mentioned and "Four Romances on Poems by Pushkin" (if I remember correctly), written around the same time.

By saying that certain people were "ahead of their time" we can also mean something different. It seems as if over the centuries music developed along certain logically necessary ways - monody was followed by polyphony, tonal harmony was followed by atonal music, and so on. Monody is simpler than polyphony, so it came first. Therefore people who were able to "look into the future" were simply able to see slightly earlier than others where things could go next. I'm not denying that - as you said - the way certain composers pushed things forward influenced later generations, but their contributions were at the same time based on the possibilities "latent" in the music of their own time, and really just waiting to be explored by someone or other. And very talented people were able to notice those possibilities earlier than others. We don't of course mean that they were able to see future events, in the same way that certain Saints were able to (Jesus himself saw Jerusalem as the city strictly associated with military events of the end days, and it seems likely this will come to pass in one form or another - it's hard to call it a self-fulfilling prophecy, since Christian presence in the Holy City is unfortunately negligible). All be that as it may, composers like Beethoven, or Chopin, or Schoenberg were able to see "latent" possibilities in music before others, they saw were things could go next. And in that sense only they were "ahead of their time".

Thank you so much for this video. By pure coincidence, I’ve just reached the chapter in Paterson Joseph’s marvellous novel The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho, where he steals out alone to listen to Handel’s music for the Royal Fireworks, so coming across your video now is very timely! I’ve also just been listening to an orchestra from Soweto in South Africa playing a suite of Sancho’s minuets and was moved to tears by their beauty. Thank you for this informative, enlightening commentary. I completely agree with your approach to this issue: retain, explain and expand the canon. Both/and is a more intelligently inclusive approach that doesn’t needlessly alienate, but makes it clear great music, whoever creates it, is for all.

Not sure how to tell you this but you got some shit on your face bro

I'm the only person I know that likes classical music. I've long since given up trying to recruit people to the cause but feel sorry that most of them will live their entire lives without experiencing the joy of great music.

Excellent channel. Thanks for these videos.

This comment section is filled with classical elitists.

Elite is such an ugly term. Why is classical music filled with such ugliness? You almost think that music is the means to being elite, that the music seeks it out in some ways.

Grew up listening to everything from Spyro Gyra to Beethoven and Berlioz, to Wes Montgomery, Sergio Mendes and even the Allman Brothers. This was in the '80s and '90s. But what I'm really into, is Lartin/Brazilian Jazz and the lesser known composers such as Bernhard Romberg, C.E.F. Weyse, Franz Kronmer and T.M. Eberwein. I like these genres not because I think I'm better than anybody else, but because I love the music. It speaks to me in a way that rock or rap can't. Since all music is based on what came before, it's time to shake off the elitist mentality. Btw, I find a lot of Beethoven's music somewhat stiff and cold, but love his 4th Symphony. As well as Haydn's Drumroll Symphony.

My love for classical music began when an eighth grade teacher played an entire symphony during a class. I don't remember any discussion around what we heard, only the impact of the music itself. This symphony by Vaughan Williams began my backwards education. I started with Berlioz and Stravinsky and went back to Beethoven and Brahms. I spent time in the library reading about composers and borrowed the LP of "Mathis Der Maler" by Hindemith. I had the most unelite education in this elite music one could imagine.

Unrelated fun-fact: A few years ago, I told a co-worker I was looking forward to, that evening, attending a symphony concert featuring the Rachmaninoff 3rd Piano Concerto, she became all wide-eyed and said in a rather haughty tone, "How very HIGH-BROW of you!!" This jolted me, and for a good few seconds, I couldn't think of anything but expletives to say back. In time I came to learn that this co-worker prided herself on her love of country music, to the exclusion of all else, so I suppose this counts as a case of reverse snobbery. Anyway, when I was studying classical piano and oboe, I would often get a raised eyebrow when I would give voice to my affection for the collected works of the Partridge Family. Oh well.

What a tired trope. "Elitism of Classical Music". BORING, BORING, BORING. If you don't like the dynamic in the space, find another place to thrive. Good grief.

I stopped watching/listening after the bit that 'classical music is NOT better than other genres of music'. Of course it is better than other genres of music, ANY other genre of music, not because of social categorizing or 'only accessible to elites', but because of its psychological, aesthetic and cultural meaning. This guy is confusing some type of hourgeoisie cult with the music as such. Entirely ignorant of what classical music is. One can have heard thousands of classical music pieces and have grown-up with the sound of the genre without perceiving its meaning.

What is musicology? The critical study of how humans interact with relationships in sound. How's the for a definition?

Just thinking about this chord a bit more. It’s really a dominant (5) minor chord with 6th added in the bass. There are many songs with a minor chord with 6th added in the bass. Example: moon river (“some day”). And there are many songs with a minor dominant 5 chord. Examples: Tie a yellow ribbon (“i’ve got to know”) or Why by Donnie Osmond (“No broken hearts for us”) But I don’t know of another song that combines both. Maybe that’s what makes it sound unique?

The graphic says key of C but it’s not, it’s G. If the key were C then this chord would not be as unexpected. Also, in terms of naming it, you described it as a half diminished or a diminished with a major tinge on top. Would it not be simpler to describe it as a Dm6 with the 6th being on the bottom?

Classical music has a problem with elitism, going from that to that >most< listeners are elitist is a stretch. You chose a few elitist comments but could might as well have lifted forward some of the countless anti-elitist comments dominating classical music discourse now. Wouldn't have suited your goals though, I think you're just looking for pats on the head for being a Nice Guy though it just shows your monster ego behind that meek facade, getting all high on framing yourself as exceptional and morally superior (hey it's not a more assumptious statement than ''most classical music fans are elitist'').

Elitism occurs in every human endeavor. Every single one. Video games have snobs. Comics have snobs. Even beer has it's snobs. It really boils down to tribalism in the end. Humans are still tribal by nature. Its true though that elitism is pretty bad in classical music.

That was fun! I’m signing up to experience music in a new way ( fortunately already read music)

Where ever you are and whatever your doing at this current moment I hope you are well and healthy! PLease bring these types of videos on musical elitism and decolonization back if possible.

Been there, sung that, got the T-shirt (and the socks for my favorite organist!!!). Thanks for explaining my unexpected tears every time at this chord and in the Mariah Carey anthem as well.

So interesting !

Thanks for this. I have stated on other channels that music majors in universities are only taught the music of white male Europeans. That would be fine if "western classical music" is being defined as only the music from Europe, and the USA. But Russia is also included as you mentioned. And on top of that, there are a number of "European" composers left out, namely those of color; Coleridge-Taylor, Boulogne, Meude-Monpas, and others all very talented and worthy of being studied. So, what is the curriculum really saying then? Leaving out non-whites, mixed race, and anyone in the "other" category, not to mention excluding women altogether save an honorable and brief mention of Clara Schumann, It becomes clear the only intention is to promote the music of select white male composers. Of course, no one comes right out and declares it openly. But it is a form of colonization to indoctrinate people with the notion that only certain types of people are capable of composing classical music. It also sends the message that these select composers are the only ones that academia and the music establishment are willing to respect. And then comes the flood of information on Joseph Boulogne along with a movie based on his life. A pertinent piece of information never shared in conservatory is how Mozart copied some of Boulogne's music. Not to mention he stole other music before. Yet, academia is determined to hail him a musical genius while ignoring the man he pirated music from. It's not an isolated incident. Handel is well known for pirating music written by other composers and of course he sits among the most celebrated from the baroque era. Naturally, when you start ruffling feathers of those that are complacent, you start making enemies. Congratulations on your video and I look forward to the next one.

Hello Mr. Daniel I viewed your content and was very impressed on your knowledge in music. Reason I’m contacting you is I need a cross examination of instrumentals for litigation and what is the compensation for your services.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂......You are a complete ignoramus

I like music a lot but have great problems with written music and understanding the more complex side. This is simply because my comprehension and intellect are not that good and to really understand music and play an instrument to a high proficiency demands such. I think that people who perceive elitism, particularly in Orchestral classics, but in jazz too, somehow have a chip on their shoulder. I consider myself quite fortunate in that I don't move in musical circles and I'm not exposed to the prejudice and snobbery that abounds. A mention that I like Steve Reich, Ahmad Jamal, and Jeff Beck in the same breath usually kills any conversation I have with Classical Buffs.

The overplayed bach cello is irritating btw

Nice vid, thanks for making and sharing

Thanks for this video - Is decolonising the music curriculum only about learning history and acknowledging harmful legacies? Once we know these things, what then?

Great intro videos, thank you. The Badalamenti and some of the cuts began to evoke some Lynchian vibes watching this haha

Anyone who uses words like "Privilege" like it's a bad thing instantly loses all respect.

Sounds like B S to me. Shall we call hip hop and rap out for naming the "best" musicians by race. Stupid. What about Mexican music? Your Marxist division is showing.

Grassroots "democracy" woke video.....boring and Marxist. The guy has pimples on his cheek.

If someone asks me, what musicology is, I tend to answer "It´s everything of music, except making it" (Even if there are a lot of musicologists who are also making music)

Classical Music IS superior! This video is so disappointing.

Hunter's research is shallow. Handel was not an investor in the Royal African, he received shares as part of his package as director of the Royal Academy. He held shares on two occassions, once for a few days and once for a few weeks. Not only so, but at the time Handel held the shares, the Royal African had suspended activity in the trans-Atlantic slavery. The company returned to involvment in slaving a decade or so later.

A really neat similarity pointed out by Robert Nettl in his book, The Study of Ethnomusicology is the phenomenon of creating rules to play a type of music then improvising by those rules to create something new. Bernstein had his Norton lectures where he speaks of music and linguistics that’s interesting but ultimately I’m influenced by Nettl in that music may not be so universal as there are Native American cultures that don’t have a word for music, but a different concept all together, tied into a sort of spiritual communion.

A few interesting elements of the story is the 2nd Duke of Montagu tried to set up a slave free colony but it failed badly, also that Sancho was a grocer and his primary sales were of sugar and tobacco grown on plantations.

Hello there! I am a classical music elitist myself! So I have some thoughts and disagreements about your video I suppose. Please correct me if there's any misrepresentation of your arguments in the video. 1. In the beginning you discussed about how it's taught to guess the composer and piece just hearing a short passage. Of course I disagree that this practice is any useful. Maybe I don't see it's value but I just don't see any. 2. The next thing about clothes in an opera - that's ridiculous. A beautiful person could dress like a homeless, it doesn't say anything about their inner or outer beauty. 3. You say "People think that classical music is somehow more sophisticated". I am aware you said more words but sophistication in classical music is something a lot of people misunderstand. When I say classical music is sophisticated, there are two things I refer to. First one is that they mean to write it is very challenging, much more than say pop music. Pop music is extremely easy to compose in comparison to classical music. The second one is specifically referring to the music of J.S Bach. Which is actually baroque of course, I am aware. Just saying that the music of Bach is probably the most complex and most challenging to write in the standards of. Music of other genres are simply not there. If you don't believe me, just try to write a fugue in the standards of Bach. Why would that be a challenge? Because it's a challenge. Not because classical music is "better" whatever that even means. Someone could dislike the music of J.S Bach and that doesn't mean anything about them. But the fact stands is writing that music takes skill. And that's what's "sophistication" is all about. You think math for example is not sophisticated? Why would one say math is sophisticated? Simply because it challenges the intelligence to solve and understand it. The music of J.S Bach is challenging and difficult to write. And the success in terms of money or popularity doesn't have to do with sophistication in composition. It's just not challenging to compose pop music. The challenges there are different and that's all right with me. 4. "I listened to it a thousand of hours so I know better!" - Of course this statement is utter nonsense. Many people listened to canons and to fugues without understanding a thing about their structure. In order to understand music, you must compose and play music, singing and dancing in my opinion are also important to understand music. Being able to do something helps you truly understand it and not just listening to it or reading. It's always good to remain skeptical also of the information you read and ask yourself "Is this composition really genius or they just say so? Let's decide on our own!" which is why I don't think of every work of Bach or Beethoven as genius. Just a piece for what it's worth, who cares who composed it!! I don't think I disagree with anything else you said in the video, maybe I missed it. I hope my comment didn't ruin classical music for you as those damned classical music fans! Also please don't answer "Read Book X and then come back here" as an argument. If Book X is any worth, you can use it's knowledge to argue me. If not, then there's no point in reading it or you just didn't read it.

Classical music IS more sophisticated than hip hop and anyone claiming otherwise is just lying through the teeth or delusional. Hip hop is way more repetitive, lacks the use of large forms and using themes, in themselves more complex than most complete hip hop tracks, as building blocks for works on a grand scale, tends to look very empty if scored as sheet music compared to even smaller scale classical works like let's say a Chopin mazurka, and is almost completely lacking in the use of tempo changes as a form of musical expression - because the beats are electronically generated or even sampled and copy-pasted outright (like the Amen break). There is more musical complexity to be found in a single symphony of Bruckner or Franz Schmidt than in the entire musical output of even the most artistically acclaimed hip hop artist. How much postmodernist cultural relativist brainwashing were you exposed to? Postmodernism is to the brains of intellectuals what sniffing glue is to the brains of street children in Colombia, you better lay off the postmodernism and start an emergency deep-dive into the work of the late Sir Roger Scruton. Western classical music is objectively not just the greatest form of music ever created but the greatest cumulative artistic achievement of any culture during any time in history. This is why non-western high IQ high consciencious population groups like the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans prefer it over their own music, despite the fact that these population groups are on average very nationalistic - yet they still regard western classical music as more valuable.

This was good! Thank you for this!

Like a lot of others came here via the NYT article. I always thought it was just me noticing this special chord. This video is great, thank you for your informative and entertaining analysis.

I _highly_ recommend the 2018 recording by King's College Choir (of which Willcocks was the director for many years) of the Centennial Service of Nine Lessons and Carols. They shorten the carol to four verses, but the last two are the ones in question here, and The Chord is performed so dramatically it will blow your mind.

Great observation that the tritone moves down a half-step! Another important element is what the melody has moved to from the measure before - up an octave, "crowning" the chord - while the bass, having just drawn up from a very low D has dropped just a half-step. It sounds as if the harmonic structure has not so much changed color as rotated on its axis...