I read with interest your editorial on Daniel Barenboim (9 October). He was given credit for his part in ensuring that “this country can no longer be dismissed internationally … as the land without music”. On 9 October, the final of the BBC Young Musician competition was shown on BBC Four. Other than a listing in your Saturday What’s On section, there was no mention of this in print and just one article online (5 October) a few days before the final.
Surely the future of music depends on such young musicians who have devoted a large proportion of their lives to reach extraordinary standards? And yet the competition was largely ignored by the Guardian. How many more people might have tuned in if there had been more about the competitors and their routes to the final? Is the problem that the music was classical, in its broadest sense, as opposed to popular? Musicians playing in popular styles are given a lot more column space in the newspaper. Perhaps there could be more balance? Classical music will continue to be a minority interest if articles about its proponents are restricted to the specialist press.
The last sentence in the editorial – “We need to follow his [Barenboim’s] inspiring example too” – should be a statement of intent. If the Guardian could lead the way in discussing the rich variety of music-making in this country, how much better off we would all be.
Nicola Billington
Corbridge, Northumberland
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