BellaOnline Forums Thread Like Summary - How do YOU Define Classical Music?

I'm getting ready to do LOTS of reviews for Christmas-time, and my husband was questioning me about some of the CD's I had. "That's classical music? I thought classical music had to be written by certain composers."

So it got me thinking - how do we define "Classical Music" (which I will be doing an article on this). But I wanted to get y'all's opinions.

Mozart and Beethoven's music is still as relevant today as it was in the 18th and 19th centuries. I believe that the basis of classical music is that it traverses generations, cultures and geographic boundaries.