The Contemporary Problem

Extract

A tedious title, this, but a thought which will remain with us for a long time, and which I am therefore adopting as a permanent title for my regular feature. We have to cope with the problem so long as it exists. The two usual, alternative ways of escaping it are (1) to deny its existence, or (2) to regard it as unsolvable. The first route is usually taken by composers, the second by resigned music lovers. We shall see in the course of these quarterly notes whether there is, perhaps, a third.