Serious Music vs. Popular Music in Adorno PDF

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Prof. Michael Morse...

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Watson 1 CUST2045Y: Adorno Text Michael Morse/Matthew Lilko Megan Watson 24 November Serious Music vs. Popular Music in Adorno Adorno and Simpsons’ On Popular Music talks about the differences between what is considered serious and popular music. Both writers strongly argue that if a song falls into one of these categories it cannot fall into the other. Adorno and Simpson also argue that while each piece of serious music is something unique and special, popular music is so generic its lyrics can be replaced interchangeably with other popular music lyrics. Throughout the reading Adorno and Simpson explain repeatedly that there is a difference that separates serious music from popular music, yet explain that it is difficult to classify what exactly it is that makes them different. The text gives the example that they cannot be expressed in terms of complexity and simplicity, because earlier Vietnamese works were rhythmically more simplistic than jazz arrangements, yet is still considered serious music, while jazz falls into the popular category. Serious music is something that can be distinguished as an independent piece from other pieces, while popular music mixes with other popular music sounds because they follow the relatively same patterns and formats. Like my belief of instrumental music being something that gives individuals room to interpret and think about what it means, Adorno describes popular music as something that is “pre-digested” by society and therefore makes it easy for people to listen to. Like I mentioned in my words and music paper- most people want to be

Watson 2 entertained in the simplest way possible. Adorno argues that popular music serves this function by distracting listeners with a source of entertainment that doesn’t necessarily demand attention or a lot of thought. Another interesting point was near the end of the reading where Adorno argues that popular music cannot make any sort of political statement because that simply isn’t what popular music was made for. Although people may attempt to break down the walls between serious and popular music, they both serve a strict purpose with little room for flexibility, and would be very difficult to change....