In its crusade against good music the B.B.C. has developed
a new technique. In the early weeks of the war it came near cutting out anything remotely approaching the classical altogether. Now, except for Symphony Concerts, it turns it on after most respectable burgesses have gone to bed. The Pastoral Symphony last Monday was a case in point. Thou- sands of people must have welcomed the opportunity of hearing it, but a good proportion of them, being persons who work by day, found it distinctly unsatisfactory to have to sit up till nearly midnight to see—or hear—it through. There was plenty of time after the six o'clock news for a programme called " Music in the Evening," a variety entertainment styled " Monday Night at Eight," and part of the pantomime " Babes in the Wood." Ultimately, at 10.45, a programme began in which the Pastoral Sym- phony was the second item. This corresponds, I suppose. to what they call " skying " at the Royal Academy.
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