5 MAY 2007, Page 28

Parental professions

Sir: Charles Moore is right about the jokes made regarding the jobs that other people’s parents do (The Spectator’s Notes, 28 April). My father was a professional musician who played viola in the Royal Philharmonic and, later, the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

As a schoolboy, I was teased on the grounds that he was really a dance band leader, and my tormenters would shout ‘Take Your Partners’ and ‘May I Have This Dance?’ It was harmless, if a trifle wounding.

After his death, I discovered that he had, in fact, played the clarinet in a dance band before the war to save money for his marriage. My respect for him doubled.

Paul Callan London SW10