Let Them Eat Beethoven...

A Rectorial hat-tip tonight for dear Dame Liz Forgan, recently elevated to head honchess of the dreaded Arts Council.

Hear her own wonderful words:

"Throwing children alive into a ­boiling vat of great music does them no harm at all."

Children, so she she tells us, should be subjected to a deliberate policy of exposing them "...to what might appear to be entirely unsuitable masterpieces at an early age. I am more grateful than I can say for adults who loved music themselves, who sought to pass on that love as soon as possible – or even sooner – and who totally lacked the defeatism that believes classical music is inaccessible, out of reach and somehow to be approached in disguise. If I had been forced to start with clapping games, or tooting Frère Jacques on the recorder, I fear I might have turned to crime or even netball as more exciting alternatives. Give them Birtwistle, Buxtehude, Finzi, Ockeghem and Beethoven as soon as possible I say."

What a fine, fine woman. E was strapped into her high-chair in front of Wagner 'ere she was one. Not particularly spotted that she's become a fan of the fellow as such, but at eighteen has turned out pretty well, which to me at least proves the case.