MOZART & JENKINS

Of course, we know you’re not fans of ‘art music’ composed after 1920. By ‘art music’, we mean music that is passed down in written form, as opposed to music passed down orally from musician to musician, such as the secrets of the Gallic druids.

Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern and, finally, Contemporary: these are the periods in the history of music that we present to you each season. What they have in common is that they are conveyed through written notation. Sibelius, Jenkins and Apparailly are therefore not ‘classical’ composers. But, like Mozart, their music is conveyed through written notation. We find it very difficult to understand the negative prejudices faced by 20th-century composers, and even more so by those of the 21st century. Of course, this phenomenon is not entirely new. In his day, Beethoven’s music was deemed unlistenable by some members of the public and music critics.

So we urge you to remain open-minded. Like most of our programmes, this one consists of numerous, relatively short works. There’s no risk of dying of boredom during the 50 minutes of a symphony you might not like. So why not give it a go? Just go with the flow – you won’t regret it.