“Famous Classical ‘tunes’ are better known than any single pop tune.”
Name one. Then I’ll look and see how many people in China and India and Indonesia and the Philippines, just to name a few places, actually know that tune verses how many there today know some iconic Whitney Houston tune. I think you’d be amazed at how popular western popular music is in “non-western” countries today.
For me the issue of our conversation is NOT what I like or don’t like in music. It’s only about whether a genre of music is the “most popular” or not. Classical is simply not “most popular”. It may be unfortunate, but it’s true.
Here Comes the Bride, the Ode to Joy, various Chopin pieces like the Funeral March. When I said figures I meant people.