BARELY A WEEK GOES BY WITHOUT further bad news in the world of classical music. Swingeing cuts to orchestras, choirs, ensembles and concert series leave many struggling for survival. Broadcast music is reconfigured to be more “accessible” and “inclusive”, by removing great art in favour of Disney evenings, film music, or a tribute to a faded pop star.
Those running the professional associations pronounce on the necessity of such changes, usually adding some shtick about the need to better represent the diversity of modern Britain.
Some of these changes are undoubtedly fuelled by poor economic circumstances, but ideological factors are just as important, with classical music being perhaps the worst casualty of identitarian politics. In earlier decades it was common to see terrestrial broadcasts of full operas and concerts (including many BBC Proms),
