17 JANUARY 1976, Page 3

Not quite right

Sir: No doubt it is Scrooge-like and pompous to complain of inaccuracy in a question in your Christmas Quiz (December 27). Nevertheless, Vaughan Williams did not say that Mahler was "a passable imitation of a composer". The full quotation, from his Musical Autobiography (1950) is: "Intimate acquaintance with the executive side of music in orchestra, chorus and opera made even Mahler into a very tolerable imitation of a composer". This, I submit, is a much more subtle remark than detractors of both Mahler and Vaughan Williams ever seem to realise.

Michael Kennedy 31Vloorwood Drive, Sale, Cheshire