Sir, In his article on Mozart (February 22nd) Raymond Deane decries the bland diet of classical music being generally promoted today. Hearing buskers in Grafton Street give a rendering of Mozart Eine kleine Nachtmusik, or similar, provokes a range of negative responses.
Classical music, Mr Deane maintains, serves primarily as a means of reassurance for the middle classes giving the impression that music is "easy". "Composing by numbers evokes listening by numbers." Well indeed, perish the thought that listening, to music should ever be an enjoyable, undemanding experience. What would he expect buskers to play to the passing crowds on the street? It is not so very long ago when buskers playing classical music in Dublin were a rarity.
Given that music has been so neglected in our schools and that the only classical music radio station, FM3, is restricted to a low short hours a day, it is hardly surprising. If so many music listeners are, in his view, sadly lacking in depth, it will be a long time before they reach the stage of appreciating contemporary classical music, some of which is so inaccessible, listening to it is like chewing on tin foil it's lovely when you, stop! But it certainly is an experience and it's mood altering qualities should not be overlooked either.
Instead of taking broad swipes at his potential audience from his privileged position, perhaps Raymond Deane would write an article about the positive work that is being done in the classical music field in this country and how it might be possible to build on this. Yours, etc., Monkstown, Co Dublin.