It is not an exaggeration to say that serious music in Britain is in crisis. This crisis is manifested both in the sad demise of much of music education and in the desperate defensive manoeuvres required of many of our major musical organisations.
There are multiple reasons for this. When I started in the music profession, there was a substantial consensus among politicians that western classical music was something to which every child should have access. Local authorities were, by and large, proud of improving their provision for the arts in general and music in particular. By the 1970s, the range and quality of professional musicmaking was undeniably better than it had ever been in this country’s history. Now, however, we are falling rapidly behind other European nations as the structures so painstakingly put into place in the 1950s and 1960s are being dismantled in this new utilitarian age.
John F Kennedy said, “There is a connection, hard to explain logically but easy to feel, between achievement in public life and progress in the arts.” Most contemporary politicians seem blissfully unaware of this—and the post of arts minister has become virtually insignificant in the scheme of political arrangements.
The effects of this are devastating. Many teachers educated in the early part of this century are wholly ignorant of the great traditions of western music. Only in cathedral choirs, some independent schools and a small number of state schools with a special interest in music is real access to this heritage still possible. Recent events in Sheffield and Winchester cathedrals—where choirs have faced the chop—have underlined the vandalism of some clergy who fail to recognise the key role of music in the life of the Church, so even here the future is not secure.
Underlying much of this is a patronising—and ill-informed—assumption that disadvantaged children will not respond to great music, do not need to develop instrumental or vocal skills, and should simply be offered the sort of material they would probably be able to find for themselves without any help from a school.
I had the privilege of conducting three major youth orchestras as well as working on a number of occasions with the National Children’s Orchestra. Over more than 30 years, I watched with awe how young people can produce extraordinary results if they are motivated and have had good instrumental teaching. Increasingly—and sadly—this instrumental teaching is available only to affluent middle-class parents who can afford to pay for it. This was not true in the 1970s or 1980s; the Birmingham Schools Orchestra in those days drew its members from a very wide spectrum of society. The Music Services were teaching thousands of children and, as a result, the county youth orchestras were the envy of Europe. Leicestershire, Bedfordshire and Kent, among many others, tackled hugely challenging repertoire with great success and attracted composers of the highest quality to write music for them. The boys of Wandsworth School, under their formidable director Russell Burgess, were Britten’s choice for performances of the War Requiem.
Musical talent is manifestly class-blind; the reduction of music education denies opportunities that should be a basic right for all children
It is not true to say that none of this is happening today, but many fewer children have access to these opportunities now. Musical talent is manifestly class-blind; the reduction of music education denies opportunities that should be a basic right for all children. Of course, the utilitarian view of recent education ministers, such as Michael Gove and Nicky Morgan, by which education and learning is directed at acquiring a job rather than enriching lives, has made this worse. This, despite overwhelming evidence from the United States that learning an instrument increases academic success rather than interfering with it.
This toxic combination of factors is steadily eroding the great achievements of the post-war period. Choral societies, the great bastion of British musical life, are struggling to attract members because so many 30- and 40-year-olds have never had an opportunity to sing in their earlier life. Youth orchestras are in retreat, precisely because the music services that used to develop instrumental skills are not able to supply the same quantity or quality of young musicians as they did 30 years ago.
Many of the programmes on television imply that you can make music like a Pot Noodle. This is the reverse of the truth; it takes resilience, determination and hard work to play an instrument, whether to Grade V or to diploma standard. That is precisely why it is such a good thing for children to do; it contradicts the idea that a short attention span is enough for all of us if we have a handheld device.
At its worst, this can be a result of seeing western music as a kind of symbol of colonialism. The irony of this, when China has literally millions of young people playing western instruments, seems to escape those who believe this. When I was conducting the Birmingham Schools Orchestra, it was suggested to me by the then music adviser that I should modify the audition standard for musicians from ethnic minorities in order to make membership more accessible for them. This was, in my view, a bizarre idea; music is not just class-blind but colour-blind also. The principal bass in the BSSO was a boy from Guyana—who was a wonderful player. Wayne Marshall’s exceptional talents demonstrate clearly that the only barrier to multi-racial classical performance is enough access to first-class teaching.
Somehow, as we have lost confidence in many of our other traditions, we have lost confidence in our musical traditions too. The Arts Council, which should be defending those fine traditions, presses continuously for more diversity and is almost waging a war against opera companies because it believes them to be elitist. You only have to take a taxi in Milan to learn the absurdity of this. In Italy, the local opera house has significance for all sorts of different people and involves a level of partisanship and excitement over new productions which would only be a dream here.
When Britten’s Peter Grimes was first performed in 1945, every national newspaper wrote news stories about it, and the first night was almost like a coronation when it came to the level of popular interest. Who can imagine anything similar happening today? That is a failure of government, of the Arts Council and of the BBC, all of whom should be ashamed.
