[F_MINOR] O/T ... a misuse of music?

[Kate Clunies-Ross <appassionata3@LYCOS.COM>]

 Hi, F Minor
May I apologise in advance for this thread being rather off-topic, but I guess that some 
music-lovers might find it interesting....if in a rather sad way.
We all know that GG's view of the purpose of art (including music!) was  " not the release of a 
momentary ejection of adrenaline, but rather the gradual lifelong construction  of a state of 
wonder and serenity." I also seem to remember , maybe aeons ago, a brief discussion on F-Minor of 
his comments that the omnipresence of music in everyday life, (in shopping malls, elevators, 
workplaces etc) , forced on the listener without his voluntary choice, somehow devalued the whole 
experience of music. If my memory here is wrong, no doubt someone will tell me!)
Well, it seems that someone has now found a new  purpose for such piped public music.And it has 
nothing to do with wonder, serenity, or even inducing a feeling of relaxation and positivity in 
public places.
A couple of nights ago there was a news item on TV, about a chain of supermarkets (I forget which) 
in South East England that had a problem with young people congregating in its entrances in the 
evening, and upsetting other people. There was no suggestion or evidence that any of the young 
people were breaking any law, or being threatening; but apparently other potential shoppers  felt 
"intimidated" by their behaviour and were avoiding the stores. But hey! The store management 
thought up an ideal solution to drive the youngsters away, without any verbal or physical 
nastiness. You've guessed it - they decided to play classical music over loudspeakers in the store 
entrances, because they knew that young people would find this unpleasant and intolerable and would 
vacate the area forthwith!
And so it was. The ploy worked, the young people went  away presumably to meet up somewhere else. 
(They interviewed a couple of the young guys who admitted the music was uncool and they didnt wasnt 
to hang around where they could hear it. Apparently one of the best deterrents to youth was 
Mozart's 40th symphony , I forget what else drove them away.)
The TV reporter presented this as if it was an amusing anecdote, but I felt : What a sad story! I 
realise of course that everyone has their own favourite types of music, and there is no reason why 
everyone should appreciate the classical type. But what kind of a society is it which uses what are 
arguably some of the most beautiful creations of the human mind as a sort of repellent  to young 
people seen as 'undesirable"? I know that there are many youngsters who appreciate classical music 
as well as other kinds. if thy are introduced to it in a positive way; but what kind of message is 
it sending out to use music as a means of driving people away? 
I amgine that GG would find this sad too. What a negation of his idea that  music can induce a 
state of ecstasy! Even if, wryly, he might agree that Mozart was an ideal deterrent.

Kate (sorry if I am over-reacting!)




"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake
in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may
act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. "
T. E. Lawrence, "The Seven

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