Piano Street Magazine

Bocconcini was not a Composer

August 24th, 2010 in Piano News by | 3 comments

The British may be a nation of music lovers, but they are clueless when it comes to classical composers, a survey revealed today. One in three people (33%) have never listened to classical music and 4% of those surveyed wrongly identified Bocconcini – small Italian cheese balls – as a composer.

Bocconcini - not a composer

The Reader’s Digest survey of 1,516 people also found that most were unable to link composers to their masterpieces. Three out of four (75%) did not know that Elgar wrote Pomp and Circumstance, and 27% did not even know he was a composer. Sixty-eight percent did not know Tchaikovsky wrote the 1812 Overture.
The Welsh were more likely to own a Vivaldi or a Wagner, with 72% possessing at least one classical CD compared with the British average of 59%.
Most participants (61%) said they liked classical music, with the older generation much keener than the younger generation.

Gill Hudson, editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest, said: “As our survey shows, there’s clearly an appetite for classical music. I suspect that a combination of uninspired teaching and the elitism that surrounds much of the genre has alienated many people, hence the lack of knowledge of some of the greatest classical music and composers of all time.”
He added: “Classical music at its best can be moving, life-enhancing and uplifting. It should be accessible to all.”

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Comments

  • Graeme says:

    Possibly the survey is more applicable to readers of Readers Digest than to the Britsh public in general. I subscribe to both Gramophone and International Record Review and I am sure a survey among their readers would have a very different outcome.

  • Hanna says:

    Classical music is the one station on the radio where you won’t be bored out of your mind hearing the auto-tune or sappy music.

  • Richard says:

    What an offensive statement, to say that we are clueless. Very obnoxious and I will not be participating any further in what pianostreet.com has to offer and I will be advising my British music loving friends at home and abroad about the sweeping racist statement made on pianostreet.com’s open forum.

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