23 JANUARY 1942, Page 12

SIR, —Being in strong agreement with " Janus " in your

January and number, in his criticism of the B.B.C.'s music, I think that Mt Kenneth Adam has failed to appreciate a number of important pointi.

n. In order to appreciate serious music, one must be free from other sounds and distractions.

2. One must therefore listen during times of leisure and relaxation.

3. Most people in war-time are working ten to twelve hours a day, and only get such leisure somewhere between the hours of 8 and io 'p.m. (the usual concert hours), after which time they have to take the sleep they need for carrying on their high-pressure activities.

4. Broadcasting serious music in the middle of the morning or the afternoon is therefore a waste, as hardly any music lovers can listen at those times.

5. During last week serious music was broadcast on five separate days during the hour before midnight, while during the normal con- cert period, only on one day was such music given (apart from two small samples on Monday and Friday).

6. At the other end of the scale, if we consider the lightest of music—dance music—we get the most raucous and least tuneful con- glomeration of noises from our own dance bands, while those of the continent continue to broadcast some semblance of melody.—Youn