When is dumbing down not dumbing down?


The dumbing down of classical music by the BBC is truly scandalous. However, it it is ironic that Norman Lebrecht and other music journalists are getting so hot under the collar* over the loss of three minutes of Harrison Birtwistle's music from BBC Four TV: because the same journalists have been assiduously ignoring - no, disingenuously denying - that BBC Radio 3 has been dumbed down for years. Is three minutes of missing Birtwistle the straw that has finally broken the camel's back? Or does the fact that BBC Four TV has a far less generous budget than BBC Radio 3 for commissioning music journalists have something to do with it?

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