Should traditional music be restored to a central place in U.S. education and culture?
The great American composer, Aaron Copland, put his finger on the reason symphonic music will never be as popular as the stuff that dominates the radio waves. “Meaningful music,” Copland said, “demand’s one’s undivided attention.” With our shrinking attention spans and increasingly hectic lives, there may be fewer and fewer of us willing or able to give undivided attention to great music. Still, the outpouring of responses to this week’s Burning Question indicates that plenty of people continue to believe it’s worth the effort to hear, play and teach such music. The nearly unanimous expression of support for musical education was typified by a letter from Patty H. Johnston of Everett who noted that sports and music make similar demands of discipline, training, cooperation and performance. “I speak up for music’s transcendent power, which for centuries has brought people together in the spirit of cooperation and love of excellence,” Johnston wrote. “In the spirit of excellence, public s
