NOTHING BUT BEETHOVEN
Sta,—Mr. Orr's criticism of the " Teutonic ignorance and provincialism " revealed in Dr. Furtwingler's London programmes needs a little more qualification than he seems prepared to give it. It may be remembered that early on in the Nazi regime Dr. Furtwangler got himself into very hot water by his spirited defence of Hindemith and his music. More to the point, however, is his own discussion of the narrow tastes of concert audiences in his recently published Conversations on Music (Atlantisverlag, Zurich, 1948). In the last " conversation," written last year, he analyses the reasons for the London public's alleged aversion to contemporary music and its persistent cult of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. To intro- duce contemporary works into a London programme, so he reports having been informed from a reliable source, immediately prejudices the box- office takings, and whole evenings devoted entirely to contemporary music are shunned by the general music public. The conservative policy adopted during the present season of Vienna Philharmonic concerts was evidently based on such considerations deriyed from a "reliable informant." As Mr. Orr suggests, it is by no means a foregone conclusion that the London public is in fact so narrow-minded, and it is a pity if Dr. Furtwingler took this verdict too much to heart.—Yours faithfully,
Previous page
