Tuned Out

One of the country's most noted conductors, who seems regrettably indifferent on the matter of who won the war, has confessed to being uneasy with the Last Night of the Proms, in which the event shrugs off all the foreign rubbish in favour of "light-hearted" flag-waving to a medley of musical rah-rah from the days when the fuzzy-wuzzies knew their place. As when the touts of Britishness boast of our island history while purging the subject from the curriculum, the present state of British music follows naturally from several decades of cultural braggadoccio fortissimo without any tiresome fripperies such as a culture to back it all up. Like Rattle, many professional musicians are taking the hint and moving abroad, or else into more socially approved professions; while the handful of parliamentary expenses claimants whose interests extend beyond the last legitimate and understandable YouGammon focus group results are reduced to sneaking in and out of performances that might taint them with an élitism beyond the exalted fiscal.