Is not a Patron. . . ?
From Judith Bingham Sir: Peter Phillips (Arts, 8 July) is right to point out the merits of Sir William Glock as well as his notorious downside. But in many ways he was no different from most of the controllers and other aristos of Radio Three that came after him, in his desire to impose a house style on British music. If you have lived long enough as a composer, you will have experienced the subtle cold- shouldering that can come with a particular regime. I experienced it after my teacher Hans Keller left the BBC in the Seventies: I had not felt specially singled out while he was there, but I certainly noticed the con- trast after he went. It can be a frustrating and depressing experience, but most espe- cially for young composers who struggle to get a single broadcast. Composers have always been subject to the whims of their patrons, and in this respect the BBC is no different from the princes, the Church and the state benefactors of history of whom very little is now known except by associa- tion with the art they commissioned.
Judith Bingham
Pimlico99@ao1.com
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