Leo P. Olobia
     


  

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Journal
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 Pinoys in the High Seas
Hauntings By the Polish Spirit
Classical Music in Your Being
Searching For My Own Theater Group 1 and 2
A Traveler's Diarrhea
Coming Home, Indeed
Philosophical Lessons in Life
My Romance In Miami
High School Memoirs 1 and 2
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 About me:
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"I was born and raised in Tacloban City, Philippines where I received my first piano lessons at the age of 7. This turned out to be the turning point of my career in music.  I still recall the day I first heard a piano playing in my neighbor’s house.   It was the greatest sound I’d ever heard and at that point I knew I wanted to be a pianist."  (more...)
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Classical Music in Your Being

  


I have been deeply puzzled by people's attitude towards classical music. It is not only revolting and obnoxious but certainly uneducated, tasteless, or in layman's lingo, dumb!!! In so many ways have our lives been influenced by the power of its harmonic structures not to mention the carefully mastered craft with perfect balance. If you haven't been touched by its magic, you must certainly come from a moronic culture with an abundance of neglect. Our academicians have tried their best to preserve the dignity of our human creations, but sadly enough this indulgence has been strictly confined to the walls of the academe. When our scholars go out to the world to share their craft, oftentimes they are lured by society's craving for commercial music creating a new path of career that will ultimately endanger the art of classical training. I have friends in the industry who are graduates of music and are now playing background tunes in some noisy bar where everyone likes to talk and therefore asks you to play quiet.

How ludicrous could it possibly get, to be reprimanded and sometimes blamed for such an elitist training you acquired and not be able to share it. True enough I experience such blasphemy in my work. I try to compromise with my music by creating a variety of repertoire, but for how long can I withstand this hypocrisy? Is it my fault that I allow myself to be labeled as a commercial musician when I have a serious passion for classical music? Everyday I do my gig with a bright idea of how the set might be lightened up with some Chopin or Mozart, but everything leads to disarray when I see drunken bastards who cannot even pronounce the composer's name, much more listen to the music. Then I would simply oblige their pathetic requests and play what they like and at the end of the day I am at the mercy of my own suffering.

Perhaps we can incorporate our listening tastes with such a variety of sounds and textures besides pop or rock or some repugnant rap and realize that classical music is indeed within us. We just have to be aware of its existence. I am not trying to ridicule those unfortunate readers but educate them perhaps with its importance. Classical music covers a wide range of periods and strictly it covers mostly the language of Mozart, or Haydn who composed music with organized structures with quite a bit of repressed emotional expression as opposed to Romantic music in the likes of Chopin or Wagner whose rich tonality highlights their compositions.

You cannot be disgruntled with the do's and don'ts of classical music. Let your ear be the judge of everything you listen to, but remember, it is always an enlightenment, a higher level of fulfillment you can achieve when you open your ears to this form of music.  It is not something to be afraid of, it is there to be consumed by the growing mind and soul, enriching every facet of your Being until it becomes attached to yourself, inseparable and inspiring.

I hope this article does not discourage you in any way, because my mission is not to divert your attention away from maddening preferences but to incorporate it to your own rhythm.

 

Posted at BQR 10/13/04.