Brits revealed as Classically Clueless

[karlhenning]

The E flat is very distinctive...

We whackjobs are especially fond of E^b (and its enharmonic equivalent D#).

[Florestan]

That's true, I am --- I just put you on my "ignore' list.

Well I think that's pretty petty.

You'll miss butt loads of fun by doing that.

In this case, agreed!

It was only a joke, gentlemen. Never in my GMG life have I ignored anyone nor will I ever do.

[Florestan]

We whackjobs are especially fond of E^b (and its enharmonic equivalent D#).

Wait a minute! Do you mean that those two E-flat opening chords that are stuck in my head for years are from "Eroica"? Man, for twenty years I've been writing prose without knowing it. 

[Gurn Blanston]

Wait a minute! Do you mean that those two E-flat opening chords that are stuck in my head for years are from "Eroica"? Man, for twenty years I've been writing prose without knowing it. 

Yep. This would almost make a nice avatar, next time Dave is looking...

[jochanaan]

And then, of course, there's the problem of how a fully-instrumental symphony can be about anything...!

[starrynight]

Yes, exactly.  What ties "Brits" together is being citizens/subjects of the United Kingdom - an accident of birth over which they have choice whatsoever.  Welsh, Cornish, Scots, Irish (N Ireland), Manx and many other peoples are citizens of the UK, whether willingly or otherwise.  To suggest there is some "racial" element about being a Brit is ignorance of the most woeful kind, and displays a love of gob-opening to zero effect (other than offence and ridicule).

Some places in the world certainly do look at nationalism in a racial way, I don't think that is really the case in western countries though.

It's certainly pointless to define the whole musical listenership of a country as the same just like it would be doing that to the composers.  Art knows no boundaries and the audience is freer than ever to explore it's own individual interests.

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

A couple of years ago, I asked three people at work (was an IT dept.) if they've ever heard of Bruckner. 3: Never. One: "It's a comedian?"
BTW I think Tchai/1812 really isn't common knowledge. I can't believe more than 30% of the Brits have ever heard of it.

[karlhenning]

A divided highway.

[DavidW]

I'm not British, but I can certainly be clueless.  I love Beethoven's symphonies and have heard them a zillion times.  Playing one on cd I would certainly go "I know and love this music."  Yet just this week in the car I heard his fourth symphony and what I thought was "which Beethoven symphony is that?"   So this cluelessness is not strictly for those that eat black pudding.

[Bulldog]

It was only a joke, gentlemen. Never in my GMG life have I ignored anyone nor will I ever do.

Same here.  Those who do use the ignore function just reveal a weakness.

[Daverz]

A friend of mine calls England the "Das Land ohne Musik".  Or as Sir Thomas Beecham explained, "The English may not like music, but they absolutely love the noise it makes."