But is it art?

Hooked On Classics; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Louis Clark, conducting

At about the same time that I initiated a love affair with classical music, that is to say when I was sixteen years old, the world and I encountered a very strange phenomenon. I didn’t think it strange at the time, but looking back at it now, the popularity of a series of recordings called “Hooked On Classics” seems a little ridiculous. Yet these recordings took the American and British culture by storm.

I’m sure that the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, in London, England, and Louis Clark, at one time the keyboardist and arranger of string charts for the Electric Light Orchestra, made lots of money from these albums. But it must have been an enormous gamble to produce. I mean, they paid a full orchestra for many hours of studio time. And who was their target audience? And, more importantly, would their target audience like it, much less buy it?

I find it doubtful that they were trying to reach the international classical music community. They – ahem, we – typically have our noses waaaaaayyyy up in the air at the notion of a classical music medley. The idea of a Reader’s Digest version of any of the great musical masterworks offends them – us. The moment you cut up a masterpiece, it ceases to be the thing that it was to begin with. The finest peaks in classical music stand on the shoulders of the measures and moments that come before, that work the ground, that pave the way, that point to the these passionate summits, and yet are instances of beauty and bliss in and of themselves. Would you cut those portions of music away in the interest of efficiency? “Here’s the very best of classical music … in just four minutes!”

Who was their target audience? I dare say that it was me. I knew that I loved classical music, but I had no list of works telling me which classical music pieces I should love. This album provided that need. It was kind of like shopping. Okay, I liked that symphony theme. Maybe not THAT one so much. Oooo. Now, that’s very nice. How much for this one? And so on.

The inside cover of the cassette tape – I bought the CD several years later at a pawn shop for a dollar and a half – listed all of the pieces included in each medley. This turned out to be a boon when studying for my Music Lit classes in college. I already knew what most of the music sounded like.

So, I’m a bit torn over the whole concept. It’s a thing, made out of pieces of art, but is that thing, itself, art? On the other hand, something that I would not listen to today established a foundation on which I could erect an infrastructure … with massive walls where my boundless and sweeping music gallery could fasten.

My friend David says that these medleys offered the opportunity to delight the world with segments of the world’s finest and most beautiful music ever – by virtue of a two-by-four.

Credits: To members of orchestras all over the world, who trust, each and every day, that a sizeable cross-section of the world’s population will actuate and nurture a passion for this wonderful genre of music that was written many generations before them. I share and admire your faith.