[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Why does the B.B.C.
permit the laceration of our susceptibilities by musical performances in alien tempi ? Cinema organists seem possessed of an especial genius for taking liberties with the appointed beat, but there are others capriciously inclined who likewise should be gently but firmly restrained from indulging an execrable inexactitude. Grand polyphonic marches are often scurried through with the speed and inconsequence of an Irish jig. Not infrequently stately waltz themes from a bygone generation when not swinging along at a quite un-Victorian pace lapse inexplicably into inappropriate cantando. Quite recently I listened to a classical overture whose allegro movements emerged a mere flurry of notes for furious violins with imposing orchestral scoring apparently non-existent. To emphasise the ldrik for extremes a funereal adagio reduced the allegretto to
bathos. _
Music is nothing if not a monumental testimony to the diversity of its creative moods.' 'Hence, even incidental to dnimatic presentation there is a piece to suit every occasion without doing violence to correct tempo. It is the more painful, therefore, that professed musicians should dishonour the composer and exasperate their audience by execution divorced from truthful interpretation.—Yours, &c., Oakleigh, The Brook, Liverpool 13. F. W. RicuAanq.:
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