About 50% musical forgery

Back in December I ran an exclusive story that an uncompleted Elgar sketch of a sixth Pomp and Circumstance March has been discovered, and that Anthony Payne was en route to completing it.

Yesterday BBC Proms Controller Nicholas Kenyon announced that the highlight of the 2006 Proms season will be ..... the first performance of Anthony Payne's completion of Elgar's sketch for a sixth Pomp and Circumstance March. Payne said the new march was about "50% Elgar and 50% me... when I do it, I feel I am getting under his skin, like an actor taking on a role" .

I repeat Paul Hindemith's words in his 1952 book A Composer's World:"You are not permitted to sell unsanitary macaroni or mustard, but nobody objects to your undermining the public's health by feeding it musical forgeries."

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Comments

Anonymous said…
Is it just me or does Kenyon become more and more pompous and self satisfied every year?
The Proms are a great musical extravaganza, and I realise the BBC has to get in the audiences, but do we need Rite of Spring and Firebird AGAIN...Stravinsky wote lots of other marvellous music.
Also Betthoven's 9th...we never seem to get any lesser known Haydn symphonies for example: all the 7os are marvellous works.
As for the "Elgar" works...you are exactly right.There is so much good music out there, see today's Guardian regarding John Foulds;
or Elizabeth Lutyens, let alone the Scandalous neglct of Malcolm Arnold in the Proms.
Pliable said…
Hear, hear, hear .....

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