THE WEEK'S MUSIC
Sir.-At the risk of seeming captious concerning your contributor "Sebastian," I must protest strongly against his use of vulgar slang in The Listener of February 25. Referring to the performance, at Dunedin, of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, he stated that both soloist, Maurice Till, and the orchestra, "let their hair well down"-whatever that may mean. Of Tchaikovski’s Fifth Symphony, "Sebastian" wrote: "The latter was a bit soupy-duck soup, at that-after its nature." May I point out, Sir, that the first requirement of an authoritative critic is clarity of expression; second, reasonable command of the Queen’s English; third, dignity of style. If his meaning is not clear, the reader cannot assess the value of his judgment; if he descends to the use of slang, he lowers the prestige of his calling; if he shows disrespect to the acknowledged masters of music, he is obviously unfitted for his job. Serious musicians are perturbed by this incongruous tone of fatuous flippancy in The Listener’s musical reviews, and I venture to predict that its continuance may alienate many of vour subscribers.
L. D.
AUSTIN
(Wellington).
(We venture to predict that our subscribers whatever they may think of "Sebastian," will not desert us while they are able to read Mr. Austin.---Ed.)
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 815, 11 March 1955, Page 5
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209THE WEEK'S MUSIC New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 815, 11 March 1955, Page 5
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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