I’ve picked up a copy of BBC music this weekend. I used to buy Classic CD every month, but it’s been quite a few years since I bought an issue (does it stil exist? I couldn’t find it anywhere on the shelves).
It was mainly the John Adams feature that got me to buy the January 2002 issue of BBC music, and I just had to share this quote:
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Even as an undergraduate, Adams felt a tension between the energy of pop culture and contemporary classical music, which was dominated by the cerebral abstractions of serialism. ‘I was certainly aware that contemporary composers had painted themselves into a rhetorical corner. You know, the sort of arrogant attitude of Babbitt, Boulez and the Europeans: “This is an elite activity and I don’t expect you to understand if you’re just a common listener.” I wasn’t interested in that and thought if it continued, contemporary music would cease to be a force in cultural life.’
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BTW check out the classical section of the BBC(i) website. It’s @ http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/classical/