Scruton's Preferences

My second question is whether or not Scruton ranks certain forms of contemporary music superior to other contemporary forms, or if he just ranks all contemporary music as equally inferior to classical music. For example, he could dislike rap music even more than he dislikes rock music.

Although I could never be sure without actually asking Scruton, I do believe that there are some forms of contemporary music that he would believe to be more acceptable than other forms. As I stated in my previous blog, I do not believe Scruton bases his judgments solely on the time period in which certain music is popular. He bases his judgments on the quality and complexity of the music at hand. Therefore, I can't really say that he would prefer, in my opinion, music from a certain decade over music from another decade. I can't say that he would probably prefer the music of the 1980's over the music of the 2000's. That would imply that he is judging music based on the time in which it was produced. He just believes that music has a tendency to decline in quality and complexity as more time goes by. He believes this is just an accurate, negative correlation.

I can, however, say that Scruton might prefer one genre over another. In my question, I said as an example that maybe Scruton prefers contemporary rock over contemporary rap music. I am not claiming that this is true, but it very well could be the case. Scruton could claim that rap is far too simple compared to classical music to be considered "good" music. He might claim that rap music doesn't have harmony, melody, tone and rhythm. It might have some, but not all of these characteristics. He might prefer rock music because at least most rock artists use musical instruments.  

In class, we discussed how some contemporary music incorporates orchestras into their music. We discussed whether or not Scruton would enjoy this type of music. I believe that although he might not consider this kind of music something breathtaking, he would probably appreciate it at least somewhat. For example, the song "Bittersweet Symphony" by the British band the Verve incorporates an orchestra into its performance. Although I have a feeling that Scruton would definitely have some critiques about how repetitive the violin is, I do believe he would at least somewhat appreciate this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-p7h2ANRsk
^ "Bittersweet Symphony" by the Verve, live on BBC Television

Mozart v. the Beatles v. Nirvana

         My first question is where Scruton draws the line which separates good music from bad music. For example, he compares Nirvana to the Beatles, claiming that the Beatles are superior. However, would he claim that Mozart is superior to the Beatles, because the Beatles are contemporary compared to the music of Mozart? 

     
      After our discussions in class I have realized that yes, Scruton would claim that Mozart is superior to the Beatles. However, I don't think he discriminates solely based on what year the artist started making music; he discriminates based on the quality of the music, in his opinion. For example, if a contemporary orchestra performed new and original music with the same style as classical music, I believe he would have no reason to consider it inferior. If the new music has tone, melody, harmony and rhythm, he would really have no reason to dislike it. 

      Therefore, Scruton doesn't claim that the Beatles are superior to Nirvana just because the Beatles started making music in the 1960's and Nirvana the 1990's. He believes the Beatles are superior because their music is superior. He believes they do a better job than Nirvana in incorporating tone, harmony, melody and rhythm in their music. He believes the music of Nirvana is less complex, and more dehumanizing. He also dislikes the fact that contemporary music forms idols of the artists. He doesn't like how Kurt Cobain is idolized by so many people, and thought of so highly. He would prefer people to praise the actual music more than the artist performing it, and he believes that most contemporary music is too simple for people to idolize it, so they idolize the musician instead.