Twisting the Knife

This week has been wearyingly typical in the world of arts coverage. Classical music is dead. Or not. Yes, we've heard it before, but instead of actually investigating the repertoire, let's just waste precious column inches dredging up old arguments so we can navel gaze one minute longer. Then, we might prop up enough trees to block the view of the wood beyond entirely.

To say that someone started the trend would be laughable, because classical music has been in its death throes since Perotin first ventured into all things polyphonic, but the latest screeds seemingly began with a Slate article, which was summarily rejected by The New Yorker and then mulled over in The Washington Post. Each time such arguments, pro and con, are paraded in the papers, another nail is hammered into the coffin. Engagement in the music itself slips lower down the list of priorities and an opportunity to proselytise is wasted. Even the positives find themselves diluted, grubbing around in the dirt with the protestations of the naysayers.

When BBC Radio 3 announced a series of new programmes this week, the Daily Telegraph's showbusiness editor, citing the old chestnut of 'dumbing down', wrote that 'the BBC station claims it broadcasts 600 complete works every year'. It's a total misunderstanding of the original statement, that Radio 3 transmits 600 concerts per annum, of which half are live. Not to grasp the difference between those two statements is alarming, though sadly unsurprising given our inability to look beyond the end of our collective, jaded nose and rejoice in the wealth of experiences available to us.

Tweet