The Art of Listening: How Cultural Capital, Contextual Knowledge, and the Mere Exposure Effect Influence Experiences with Classical Music

Classical music is viewed as belonging to the high arts, and the attitude that the audience needs to have acquired a certain kind of knowledge and cultivation to be able to appreciate the genre the “right” way, is expressed by academic researchers as well as experts within the field of classical music. This view creates a clear distinction between those who have acquired the necessary cultural capital and those who have not. This distinction will be a recurring theme in the investigation of the following research questions: (1) How can classical music become more appealing to a broader audience? (2) How do people with varying levels of music education experience repeated listening to a classical piece? (3) How are their experiences influenced when they are given an introduction to the piece and the composer, and are invited to listen in a personal way? (4) How does cultural capital impact the way people engage themselves in music? My sample consists of people with varying degrees of music education, whose experiences with classical music I investigate through qualitative interviews and listening diaries. The examination of the research questions has provided different insights. Firstly, that contextual knowledge not only can contribute to and positively impact the appreciation of the music for those who are not acquainted with the genre in advance, but also for professional musicians and conservatory students. Secondly, that the conservatory students are not only engaged in the “highbrow”, analytical way of listening, but also listen in a quite personal way which actually seems to be supported by their theoretical knowledge. Thirdly, that there, regardless of level of music education, occur what I introduce as contextual associations as a part of the listening experiences. And fourthly, that even though insight one and two indicates that individuals with more cultural capital have several things in common with those with less cultural capital, as both groups are engaged in personal listening, and both react positively to contextual knowledge, there are clear differences in how the groups generally engage themselves in music. An example of such differences is the finding that musicians have quite theoretical conversations about music in their everyday lives which creates a sphere where only those who have acquired the necessary knowledge have access. Moreover, I suggest that not only cultural capital within the domain of music, but cultural capital in general, as well as educational level, influence not only how individuals express themselves about their listening experiences, but, potentially also, to some degree, shapes the actual experiences with music. These insights provide knowledge which can contribute to strengthen the connection between the domains of cultural capital and highbrow culture, and the domains of audience development and responses to music, as I find that the link between these two clusters of related domains are currently under-researched.