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Do You Actually Know What Classical Music Is? Does Anyone? - The Atlantic

theatlantic.com · 2,615 words · saved by 1 readers

The term is applied to radically different compositions across more than 1,000 years of history. We need a better definition.

Listen − 1.0 x + Seek 0:00 14:58 I f most music lovers were asked to identify the defining characteristics of their favorite genre—jazz, folk, rock, hip-hop—I would guess that they might simply say, “Well, it sounds a certain way.” It’s music, they might go on, that tends to have a particular rhythmic feel, or that usually features, say, the saxophone, or the electric guitar, or the sitar. Presented with exceptions to these patterns—what about a cappella jazz ensembles? what about “unplugged” rock albums?—most listeners would likely offer some variant of I know it when I hear it! Explore the M

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