25 NOVEMBER 1932, Page 17

There is so much disagreement over Elgar's music, even in

Ids own country, that, apart from the fitness of the gesture, this festival should be useful in helping listeners to sort out their own ideas on the subject. The danger is lest the B.B.C., in its zeal, should overload the air with praise : the Radio Times is already packed with adulation, and I have no doubt that the various speakers who will come to the microphone, during the course of the celebration, to tell us in advance all about the music we are to hear, will be chosen enthusiasts. I suggest that we should all be a little more stimulated by the occasion if a few discriminating dissenters were allowed to come forward and air their views.