Classical Music

I heard this morning on the BBC of yet another attempt to interest the recalcitrant in classical music by way of fun happenings and the like. I was half expecting the studio panel to applaud this initiative but to my surprise they took a far more tough-minded stance. In essence, they said that one has to get children interested in and exposed to classical music at an early age. By the time they reach adolescence it is too late in all but exceptional cases. I would say this is true, although it is not politically correct to say so. Such interest as I possess in classical music is the result of listening to it in early childhood when I didn't have much say in the matter. If you haven't already acquired the habit of listening to music that, unlike pop music, DEVELOPS over time, it is unlikely that you will do so later on.
In the same way, if you don't learn a foreign language, a card game, a sport or many other "skills" when you are young, you will find it difficult to acquire them in later life. That is why I deserve such extraordinary credit for learning French at the ripe old age of 25!