Missing so much and so much.........

Clickbait correctness - if ain't clickable, don't hype it - means much great music is consigned to the virtual void. Chandos' traverse of Hamilton Harty's orchestral music gave me much pleasure when released on vinyl in the 1970s, and the label's 3 CD bundle of those recordings continues to give me pleasure. Technology and the pandemic mean that today virtual listening - recordings delivered by streaming - is the predominant way music is consumed. This technologically enabled level playing field provides an ideal opportunity for the classical industry to exploit its rich recorded legacy. But that exploitation simply isn't happening. Instead our social media culture means great music can only see the light of day when given an outing by a 'hot' young conductor - just imagine the Twitter meltdown if John Wilson recorded Harty's Irish Symphony. While dipping into the virtual void and listening to the much-missed Bryden Thomson's Chandos recording of that work I was reminded of Frances Cornford's delicously politically incorrect poem To A Lady Seen From The Train:

O why do you walk through the fields in gloves, 
Missing so much and so much? 
O fat white woman whom nobody loves, 
Why do you walk through the fields in gloves, 
When the grass is soft as the breast of doves 
And shivering sweet to the touch?
O why do you walk through the fields in gloves, 
Missing so much and so much?

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