A conversation with our sons, the conservatory students...

May: All Classical music is Christmas music

Efrem: No it's not, like Beethoven's 5th or Dvorjak?

May: What about Tchaikovsky, the Nutcracker?

Efrem: Silas, isn't Tchaikovsky Romantic, not Classical?

Silas: Efrem, when regular people say 'classical music' they mean all the music composed before the 1900's when jazz emerged...