Was Mozarts music popular with teenagers when it came out?
Ha! No! Funny idea though… I think this question stems from the misconception that all music that’s still around today was once the dominant popular genre. You say your parents’ music is lame, and it seems only natural that older music was once in vogue as well, and is only kept around by a nerdy group of aficionados. Actually, there has always been a divide between ‘classical’ and popular music; we simply don’t remember the popular music of Mozart’s time because there was no one and no way to record it. It prospered in the form of informal ‘comedic’ musical entertainment and as what we might call ‘lounge music’ today. Popular music spread orally rather than through notated or recorded forms. ‘Classical’ music seems unchanged today- still written down and performed like always, even if the sound and style is greatly different – but popular genres now have the benefit of increased musical education (allowing more music to be notated and preserved) and recording technology, while the ‘
