ENGLISH MUSIC FESTIVAL AT PRAGUE [To the Editor of the
SPECTATOR.]
Sia,—If your correspondent Mr. de Ternant will refer again to the first sentence of my article he will find that it was concerned with the European attitude towards English music. Nearly all the instances he quotes are concerned with English musicians who, through special circumstances, had good Continental connexions. Unfortunately, it is no legend that the finest English music has been, and to a large extent still is, 'neglected on the Continent. If Mr. de Ternant can quote no better instances of the popularity of English music in Europe than Balfe's operas and Onslow's quintets, his ease is indeed forlorn. The more so, since he refuses to admit Delius and Goossens as representative of English music.
The naiveté of his last sentence about "imported blood" shows me how utterly opposed we are over the question of "Nationality in Music." Can he honestly believe that the cause of "Contemporary English Music" is weakened by quoting a work like Delius's 'Cello Concerto as an example; having regard to the origin and quality of its inspiration ?—
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