Highbrows win a round

Ivan Hewitt, music critic of The Telegraph (UK), recounts his participation in a Cambridge Union debate on the proposition, “This House believes classical music is irrelevant to today’s youth,” which was voted down by a margin of 365 to 57, with 88 abstentions:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/8513018/Cambridge-Union-declares-classical-music-not-irrelevant-after-all.html

Between sighs of relief, we might ponder whether the debating society of an elite university is the ideal forum for deciding what’s relevant to today’s youth.

Also, whether relevance to an age group is an essential consideration in gauging an art form’s merits. Who would bother debating hip-hop’s relevance to the middle-aged and elderly?