Without music, my day would be a lesser thing.  It would be like watching a movie that lacked
a soundtrack.  Not that I am involved in
any exciting activities.  It’s just that
quiet has no depth.  So I fill it with a
variety of music, mostly classical.  I
recognize, however, that many people don’t care for classical music and,
amazingly, some people don’t even like music… any kind of music! 

“I hate music,” said Jimmy Durante, “especially when
it’s played.” 

Perhaps the kind of music we listen to says
something about who we are.  We make
musical choices according to our personalities, our background, our age, our
location, even the time of day.  But it
is possible to simplify the whole thing, as Fran Lebowitz has:  “There are two kinds of music—good music and
bad music.  Good music is music that I
want to hear.  Bad music is music that I
don’t want to hear.”

Certainly one’s musical preferences evolve as one
gets older.  I didn’t use to like Bartok
or Phillip Glass; now I do.  On the other
hand, some music I will never stop enjoying:  Bob Dylan, Sinatra, Bob Seger, swing, Gershwin, Dave Brubeck, Willie
Nelson to name a few.

 I like opera
music, but not operas.  The stories are
stupid, the operas often too long, but there are highlights that are
transcendent.  The human voice is one of
my three favorite instruments (the others being violin and cello), and the operatic
melodies of Mozart, Verdi & Puccini can be ecstatic.  I even enjoy Wagner’s music as opposed to his overlong, tedious operas.  Some wag, having heard that Wagner was a
great composer, pronounced his music “better than it sounds.” 

“The man that hath no music in himself,/Nor is not
moved with concord of sweet sounds,/ Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and
spoils;/The motions of his spirit are dull as night,/ … Let no such man be
trusted.”  Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice