When Hooligans Bach Down: Strike up Johann Sebastian and watch them scatter

City Journal ^ | 1/29/2009 | Theodore Darlrymple

[mojito]

Fear of beauty.

[mojito]

Ping.

[DemforBush]

"They play Bach over loudspeakers, and this disperses the youths in short order; they flee the way Count Dracula fled before holy water, garlic flowers, and crucifixes."

Interestingly, research has shown Beethoven has had the opposite effect...

[Venturer]

You would be surprised at how fast Bluegrass music sends some people on the run.

[sitetest]

Dear mojito,

Thanks for the ping!

Classical Music Ping List ping!

If you want on or off this list, let me know via FR e-mail.

Thanks,

sitetest

[cartan]

This has been tried in several European towns, and it actually does work. Put some classical music on outside speakers, and all the hoodlums, drug dealers, homeless bums and adolescent punks crawl to some other place immediately.

[DieHard the Hunter]

City council does this in Rotorua, and in Waitakere City, where I live.

[Cheapskate]

Give’em a little Ludwig Von!

[mojito]

Little Alex might not be typical of today's droog.

[synchron]

Prelude and Fugue for Yutes? Anyway it could be worse-consider what Slim Whitman does to Martians.

[MaggieCarta]

They play Bach over loudspeakers, and this disperses the youths in short order; they flee the way Count Dracula fled before holy water, garlic flowers, and crucifixes.

Giggle.

[CriticalJ]

Wow. Interesting concept. I’ll have to stash this for future reference.

[sionnsar]

There is surely something deeply emblematic about the use of one of the great glories of Western civilization, the music of Bach, to prevent the young inheritors of that civilization from committing crimes.

To be an inheritor, don't you have to accept the inheritance?

Bach as pest-repellent -- he must be spinning in his grave. *\8^(

[tvdog12345]

Yes, bluegrass works very well. Mexicans in particular hate it.

Classical, new age, and soft jazz will all deter thugs. Rap and heavy metal will attract them. Decent people are attracted by music that thugs hate and repelled by music thugs like. A businessman can select his clientele by the music he plays.

I tend to prefer it when businesses play no music at all, however.

[Wilhelm Tell]

I feel sorry for the empty souls that find great music intolerable.

[doc1019]

AMEN! ;-)

[Disambiguator]

I’ve heard this works on “urban yutes” if you play classical or C&W.

[MountainFlower]

Then Bach to Bach!

[MountainFlower]

Thanks for the PING!

[irishjuggler]

Real horrorshow post, droog!