by Joy Baldwin

Created on: January 29, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Music for entertainment has lost its depth. While there are still musicians who compose profound, complex music, the entertainment industry with its drive to bring in more cash has welcomed fluffy, poorly written music with open arms. Face it, shallow songs about raunchy relationships sell.

We have all heard of Britany Spears and Christina Aguilera, but almost no one has heard of Dwight Gustafson (b. 1930-), a noted American composer for over 30 years whose 160 works (concertos, choral and orchestral works, operas, film music) have won national acclaim. Gustafson and those like him sit quietly to the side laboring intelligently and thoughtfully over their music while the likes of Hannah Montana and others grab the limelight.

The plight is sad, for while we are enjoying our fluff, we are not doing our minds any good. We have all heard of the "Mozart Effect" and although scholars still argue the effects of complex music on the brain, no one can argue that music with a little depth does the mind any harm. Christopher Paolini, the young author of fantasy novels "Eragon" (now a film)and "Eldest" says (on his website) that he "grew up listening to a variety of music, but classical music fired his imagination and helped him write. He often listened to Mahler, Beethoven, and Wagner while writing Eragon. The final battle of Eragon was written while listening to Carmina Burana, by Carl Orff."

Pediatrician and author, Dr. Mel Levine, says in his book "A Mind at a Time" (p.43-44) that "There was a time when a composer would hire a lyricist, a kind of poet, to fashion the words to his music. Lyricists are now mainly unemployed, as the person who creates the melody also produces the language accompaniment, which is often grammatically and semantically impoverished, simply everyday language rather than language that plays on words and cleverly turns a phrase. Thus, music no longer reinforces verbal abilities. Also, much of the music to which children are exposed tends to make use of very brief themes or melodic lines, which keep on coming back monotonously. As a result, the ability to retain patterns in memory is not strengthened through music (as I believe it once was)."

In what I like to call the "otherworld" of music, there are thoughtful, intelligent musicians who continue to take the time and energy to compose profound and complex music (in many styles). Though these men and women are not completely lost to our society, they are almost forgotten by the music industry. It is our job as listeners to give this good music exposure by buying it and listening to it. Let's tell the entertainment industry that we are more than just fluff.

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