Classical music is for everyone
<i>&quot;In the summer of 1968, a friend and I went to see the blockbuster movie of the year—2001: A Space Odyssey.&quot;</i><p>So did I, and in the same year—1968. And I went with a friend from uni to see the movie. The next day the physics prac  teacher spent much of the lesson whingeing  that our behavior was unacceptable and that he did not expect to have to lecture to an empty class. The film had a profound effect on many of us and I still reckon it&#x27;s the greatest science fiction film ever made.<p>Even as a kid I liked classical music having been brought up in a household where it was the norm—both my parents appreciated classical music.  Nevertheless, <i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i> was the first time I had heard  Strauss&#x27; <i>Also Sprach Zarathustra.</i>  Frankly, it blew me away when I heard it in the film. Kubrick, couldn&#x27;t have found a more appropriate piece, its selection was absolute genius.<p>Funny isn&#x27;t it, some years later I was involved in setting up a listener-sponsored classical music  FM radio station.<p>That said, I no longer consider myself as being normal—at least when it comes to music. I&#x27;ve tried to get interested in much of the mainstream rock and popular music and much of it does nothing for me. I simply cannot understand why I like classical music and why so many others have no interest in it at all. Except for a tiny percentage of oddballs like me, classical music is essentially dead.<p>I feel like a dinosaur, a throwback from another era.