Letters: Let's move on from dead German composers

As evidence of a thriving musical culture in Britain, Charlotte Higgins cites performances of music by composers such as Beethoven, Silbelius, Strauss and Schoenberg, all of whom are long dead (Life in concert, 2 February). Not a single contemporary composer was mentioned. Such repertoire is a routine recycling of scores learned in college, with only an occasional nod to contemporary work. Such a situation is the reverse of how things should be. Audiences in Haydn's time didn't want to hear musi...

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