Peter Varley replies to me replying to him:

>>>What does have to be justified is the decision to allocate time in concerts
>>>and on the radio, and space in reference books, to one composer rather than
>>>another.
>>
>>Why in the everlovin' blue-eyed world does this have to be justified?
>>Either you agree with it or you don't  ... So write your own book.
>
>And run my own radio station? In principle, I and the sixty million or so
>other citizens of the UK collectively do just that; it's called the British
>Broadcasting Corporation.  One of its five channels, Radio Three, covers
>"The Arts", and since painting and sculpture don't make good radio, there's
>quite a lot of CM broadcast.  It also sponsors concerts and commissions new
>pieces.  IMO (and I suspect that of several others) they do a pretty good
>job for music up to and including the 19th Century, but their assessment of
>what's important in the 20th Century is distinctly partisan.

I have no idea what you mean.  I expect any organization taking public
money to air its enthusiasms, since I contend that's a better way to ensure
quality than holding a periodic referendum.  The latter method merely tends
to reinforce what everybody already knows.  How else does one allot air
time?

>1) How do I find out if others do indeed share my tastes and opinions
>unless I make them known?

Exactly.  Write to the BBC and, without putting down their enthusiasms,
argue for your own.  Who knows? They may make you a producer!

>2) The BBC spends our money on broadcasts, concerts and new works.  Do you
>not agree that if they spend it in a manner we, collectively, would not
>have chosen had we been consulted, they should justify their choice?

Not at all.  See above.  Keep in mind I *like* Rubbra.  I'd love to see his
works get more exposure.  However, I don't want a public resource merely to
confirm my prejudices.  As I say, I would lobby if it meant as much to me
as I assume it does to you.

>I do have a problem with public resources, such as air time on the BBC,
>being allocated in a partisan manner.

Scarce resources tend to cause problems.  I quibble with the word
"partisan," since you seem to exclude yourself as one.  Consider, however,
that the BBC is probably the single greatest public resource for classical
music in the world.  The US, for example, hasn't anything close.  Here, we
seldom get Rubbra over the air waves because the 20th century is hardly
played at all.  Forget Messiaen *and* Rubbra.  And yet the BBC isn't
adequate.  Perhaps we all need more than the BBC.

Steve Schwartz