12 Extremely Disappointing Facts About Popular Mus

The test of time can be misleading. Historical happenstance, political/economics and cultural nationalism have as much an influence over what art survives hundreds of years as the quality of the art.

Classical music - the highest achievement in western history? Very debatable, at best. My short list of higher ranking achievements:

collected works of Wm. Shakespeare
theory of natural selection
men landing on the moon/Voyager 1 & 2
"Moby Dick"
KAJ's skyhook
the Allied victory over the Axis
Albert Einstein

You left off the most important non-musical event:

Magna Carta

This is the only one I put above music.

Rja, I'd say the same for string quartettes or quintets, but would doubt about chamber music that often needs a professional orchestration.

"Silly,classical music is the highest acheivement of the wetern world"

Orchestrating music sure beats out orchestrating wars in terms of high achievement.

What is it again that makes classical music so much better than all the rest?

Harder to create orchestrate and perform I think clearly, but I'm asking more from the listener's perspective than the artists I guess.

Its impressive to think about and hard to actually do, but what if a good dance tune from Kesha were to float my boat more? Does that make me shallow or inferior in some way?

I know classical music affectionado's and academics including myself I suppose even feel that way but objectively I have a hard time explaining why?

'What is it again that makes classical music so much better than all the rest?'

The fact that the most advanced civilization / culture on the planet produced it. And that culture has spread around the world. Most of the world, is now in effect, European. Including the USA and Miss Kesha. :)