In Leeds Town Hall this evening, the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra begin a Festival contribution of seven concerts devoted to British music. It is important to regard this scheme, and the idea behind it, in a proper light, and not merely as a cap-touching effort dutifully contrived for a special occasion,…
Letter from Alan Bennett
Sir. – Ernest Bradbury’ remarks on the poor attendances at the Y.S.O. Concerts of British music, and particularly at the concert on June 30, are indeed timely. No one who was at the concert on Saturday can deny the merits of British music – or the excellent quality of its…
Letter from Mollie Bland
Sir. – As an ordinary music-lover, I would like to reply to Mr. Ernest Bradbury’s recent criticism concerning the poor attendances at the Town Hall, Leeds. Bearing in mind that Leeds is an industrial city, I assume that the audiences consist mainly of people like myself. Of course, I love…
Letter from Sydney Ellis
Sir, – I quite agree with the remarks by your music critic, Mr. Ernest Bradbury, regarding the lack of appreciation for English music by the citizens of Leeds. Last Sunday I attended a church service to celebrate the Festival of Britain. The church was only five miles from Leeds. The…
Letter from E. L. Roberts
Sir, – When Mr. Alan Bennett refers to British music as a pill which must be coated with sugar to make it tolerable, he is convicted out of his own mouth, for surely it is only natural that medicine should not be liked in too large does. No one, as…
Letter from Walter Hartley
Sir, – Mr. Bennett’s letter supporting your critic’s remarks on the attendance at the Y.S.O. Concert impels me to offer the suggestion that we are not likely to secure support for contemporary English music by means of reports and comments which may be offensive to those who have yet to…
THE Y.S.O. HAS BEEN BADLY LET DOWN
THE Festival of British Music in Leeds has had a shock. It is a tragedy that audiences are so meagre. The West Riding has insulted present-day British composers and eminent artists. Without a blush, I say the programmes are the finest that have been compiled for the Festival anywhere in…
Festival Concert
Though the Festival concerts being given by the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra in Leeds Town Hall are carefully described as concerts of British music, and though that title has been given to some correspondence in “The Yorkshire Post,” it has now been assumed that the words ‘British Music” are synonymous with…
Letter from Alan Bennett
Sir, – When Mr E. L. Roberts refers to large doses of British music he seems to forget that these eight concerts are but a fraction of the number of concerts throughout the year. Rarely does he have such a large and pleasing pill as this to swallow; yet he…
Letter from G. Shaw
Sir, – In reply to your music critic’s words regarding the lack of public support for the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra’s concerts of British music, I feel he is deliberately closing his eyes to the fact that the public have given this stuff its hearing, have weighed it in the balance…