Daniel Robert Lahey returns to CerebralAudio with _Not Sure This Goes
With Your Outfit_. While the title is amusing, there is something of a
statement that can go along with it.

There is a feeling that classical music belongs in certain environments,
primarily a concert or performance hall (and sometimes in churches).
This has been seen by many as being somewhat elitist. Or at least,
having the implication of their being a class system involved in the
production and performance of classical music.

It's not at all unlikely to attend performances of classical music where
the majority (if not all) of the audience members are wearing suits or
tuxedos (for the men), or fancy dresses (for the ladies). The
performance has a set of unwritten guidelines for how the audience
interacts with the performers, as much as how they interact with each
other. There is also a formality in terms of how the performers present
the pieces, how the program is selected, etc.

Daniel has chosen to point rather humorously to the idea that really
this music isn't intended for the stuffy environments of the perfomance
hall. It's for everyone, no matter what clothes they are wearing. Even
if they are making choices to appear as unique and individual as they
can.

Classical music was never really intended to be the domain of the
elitist. It was music for the people. Mozart proved this with his
popular opera's written for the general public instead of being written
for kings or royalty.

On another level, Daniel's selection of this title could be seen as a
commentary on the musical establishment. The question isn't wether this
is classical music, but rather a statment that "this" work doesn't fit
with an "establishment" conception of style.

There's also a third layer of meaning to this title. Something of an
internal joke. There are points at which you might be listening to
this work and thinking, "how does that fit in?" That's when you will
discover the playful side of Daniel, occasionally hiding little pieces
of incongruous material as a joke for your ears. These tiny
non-sequitur's could be seen as not going with the "outfit" of the
composition as a whole.

But wether he had all of these ideas in mind, or none of them when he
titled this work is something that we'll never know. However, it's
interesting to consider them in all of these perspectives, individually
and simultaneously.