I personally find Beethoven a little "heavy" for my tastes, almost as if it had a martial air about it. That said, I do have a Beethoven "sampler", if you would, on CD and a multi- LP set somewhere in the archives. I guess my tastes run more to Handel, Mozart, Brahms, Bach. I do like Tchaikovsky. I also like Pachelbel's Canon, and whenever I dig into the cd drawer of classical/baroque music, it almost always gets playtime, as does the Bach organ piece. I prefer classical when driving somewhere. I would listen to it in the shop constantly except that the huge city of Chicago has only one decent station and they have de-powered so I can no longer get it at all here at home. A true pity. Unfortunately, the cd player in the shop has also quit, so, given the obnoxious nature of most rock stations, I work in silence.
Truth be told, there are about 2000 cd's and 1200 LP's in this home. We have a wide variety of tastes depending on mood. There is a modicum of country for guests, but it is not my favorite. There is no rap here, either. I get sufficient exposure to that every time I'm outside. I have also developed a distinct distaste for Mexican "polkas", as the bassline is the same for 90% of their music and resonates through the outdoors here all day long.
I certainly wasn't denigrating your tastes, Roger, as I hold music as a passion in my life. We have a houseful of instruments, a houseful of music, and tastes that span the spectrum. I am interested in songs-as-lyric only slightly, and am far more excited by the instrumental portion, thus, I am drawn to the complexity of symphonic music as much as a well-crafted hard rock guitar solo. I could care less what anyone listens to in music, as long as they include it in their life. Rap is not music, but the railings of angry young people and the cash cow of mercenaries.
As for being a hippie, I am not really that at all. I never bought into the peace/love crap, as it is a myth. I bathed, I liked money, and I believe in the rule of law provided it is just and fair. If I want my hair long, I figure that's my business and no one elses. (It's 1/4" right now.) I guess my attitude tends towards that of independence. One could best characterize me as one who believes most strongly in the principle that if a person doesn't mess with me, then I will not mess with them. Of course, the opposite is true, also.
We are all individuals, and people only really fall into three categories, as my father taught me: good people, bad people, and those you don't know about. In between there are billions of permutations. I truly believe there is room for us all. I hope they like music.
