Sir: Michael Kennedy's article was fascinat- ing. It is, I
understand, generally perceived that Mozart is more popular than Beethoven at present. Mr Kennedy makes suggestions as to why this should be while declaring himself still a Beethoven man.
As a teenager, I too was firmly in the Beethoven camp and could not find any merit in Mozart. I find, 40 years later, that I have made a journey of discovery that I never realised I had taken; I have become a `Mozartian'. As a consequence of last week's article, I have tried to analyse why this should be and have come to the conclu- sion that it is all to do with age, in my case. I do not think I have been influenced by the fashion for opera or chamber music. Beethoven appeals to the young, his music is architectural while Mozart's is natural. With increasing age it is the purity of Mozart's music that makes it so appealing. If I were to be cast away on a desert island with only one composer, it would have to be Mozart.
Were they alive today, Mozart would undoubtedly be twanging an electric guitar in a 'group' and Beethoven would probably join those who write contemporary 'music'. Thank God they lived before such ugliness was the order of the day and have left us works of eternal beauty, natural and structured.
Geoffrey Bunch
Petwood, Cedar Avenue, Edgerton, Huddersfield
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