Further reflections on the funeral

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Respect is earned not enforced by state decree

I understood Bbm to mean "No respect at all" for the horses!

[An_Inspector_Calls]

RB:
As you have failed to demonstrate any proof of your claims, even though you've claimed the supporting data was easy to come upon, I will have to resort to anecdote.

Now you move on to the subject of music commissioning and profess there's little support for this and supply your experience to support your assertion. Well, I will counter that with my own first hand evidence of the opposite since I have been the sole supporter of a performance of Blow's Venus and Adonis, and have commissioned one sizeable piece of music. I have also managed to obtain corporate sponsorship for one local concert series. So I don't accept that Britain is institutionally Philistine either.

And I can't see what Thatcher's funeral has to do with the price of tea.

[Richard Barrett]

I don't accept that Britain is institutionally Philistine

Perhaps then you can explain the appointment of the producer of Big Brother as chairman of Arts Council England. As even the Daily Mail's theatre critic put it, "once, rich publicly-minded men aspired to raise the tastes of the populus. However, this one made his money from lowering them, by pressing our snouts in the gutter and starving us of knowledge."

[Serial_Apologist]

RB:
I have been the sole supporter of a performance of Blow's Venus and Adonis, and have commissioned one sizeable piece of music. I have also managed to obtain corporate sponsorship for one local concert series. So I don't accept that Britain is institutionally Philistine either.

You must feel quite lonely then...

[Richard Barrett]

Here's a figure I just came across by chance, from the 2011 commission fee survey carried out by BASCA (the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors) based on over 500 responses mostly from composers but also from commissioners and publishers:

The average UK commission (weighted; i.e. the number of commissions per category is taken into account) was £4,579 per commission.
The average Non-UK commission (weighted; i.e. the number of commissions per category is taken into account) was £10,431 per commission.
Overseas commissions are therefore recorded as being over 2.25 times more valuable that UK commissions.

This certainly accords with my experience.

[Flosshilde]

I am sure An Inspector Calls could provide you with an answer, Barbirollians.

He doesn't do answers - just abuse.

[An_Inspector_Calls]

Perhaps then you can explain the appointment of the producer of Big Brother as chairman of Arts Council England. As even the Daily Mail's theatre critic put it, "once, rich publicly-minded men aspired to raise the tastes of the populus. However, this one made his money from lowering them, by pressing our snouts in the gutter and starving us of knowledge."

That's quite a stretch from the particular to the general.

[An_Inspector_Calls]

He doesn't do answers - just abuse.

He said, abusively.

[Richard Barrett]

That's quite a stretch from the particular to the general.

It is one of the most influential appointments connected with the cultural scene in the UK, is it not? therefore it's indicative of what kind of person is thought to be suitable for such a role. And how many people on these very messageboards have complained about the dumbing-down of Radio 3? And how about the exclusion of all arts subjects from Gove's Ebacc plans? ("27% of schools withdrew subjects from the curriculum in response to the EBacc this academic year. The most commonly withdrawn subjects were drama and performing arts (23%) and art (17%)", according to Ipsos Mori research) The way funding cuts over the entire spectrum of education affect arts and humanities disproportionately? the 30% cut to Arts Council England's budget in last year's spending review? I could go on - as I said before the figures aren't difficult to come by. If this isn't institutional philistinism I don't know what is.

[An_Inspector_Calls]

Ebacc is scrapped. Lottery funding for the arts is predicted to rise by 30 %.

[Flosshilde]

& government funding is to fall by ?

When John Major set up the lottery it was specifically said that it wouldn't replace state funding>

[Ian]

Here's a figure I just came across by chance, from the 2011 commission fee survey carried out by BASCA (the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors) based on over 500 responses mostly from composers but also from commissioners and publishers:

The average UK commission (weighted; i.e. the number of commissions per category is taken into account) was £4,579 per commission.
The average Non-UK commission (weighted; i.e. the number of commissions per category is taken into account) was £10,431 per commission.
Overseas commissions are therefore recorded as being over 2.25 times more valuable that UK commissions.

This certainly accords with my experience.

Just wondering where you found these figures? They don't seem to be part of the survey results that can be found in the member's area on the the BASCA web site.

[Ian Thumwood]

I'm prompted to contribute to this thread after seeing Nigel Farage's image posted on one of the initial posts. This is really apposite as I can think of no politician today who is equally unbalanced as Margaret Thatcher ! The only good thing to say about him is the sterling effort he is doing to split the Tory vote which, I would suggest, will be sufficiently successful for Labour to be successful in the next election and, for once, with a proper socialist manifesto. In fact, I think he will ultimately finish the Conservatives as a serious political party with all the fruit-cakes who have over the last week suggested that Margaret Thatcher was somehow the greatest PM after Winston Churchill voting for him- although quite how Churchill has enjoyed a "great" reputation for so long is above me. The next election will be pivotal as I think it is pretty obvious that the only decent work being done by this Govt is being carried out by the Liberals. I think Nick Clegg will be the next leader of the opposition even though I am not a supporter. (Not being either a vegetarian, a school teacher, Guardian reader or a deviant ! ) Farage is almost a baffling as Boris Johnson. It is amazing that the public seems less tolerant of politicians from the Left than the Right where the more eccentric and unelectable, the more popular they are!

It staggers me that so many people have come out to celebrate Margaret Thatcher today. Quite how she avoided ever being impeachedover the years has always been a source of consternation especially with the kind of revelations as to what really went on on N. Ireland and domestic issues like Hillsborough. I think such politics are probably impossible in the 21st century and she would be far more accountable if in power these days.

Two interesting things have happened to day. Firstly I was intrigued that Cameron seemed to distance homself from Thatcher in his eulogy and there was an acknowledgement that a return to Thatcher-ite policies will never be acceptable again. I think this is true - the one good thing about MT was that it ensured that we generally do not have the stomach for extremist politics in this country. The other was that I hadn't realised that Tony Blair had been described as her natural successor - says in all really!

[Flosshilde]

or a deviant !

Even if this is said in a tongue-in-cheek, post-modernist, ironic sense, it's still completely unacceptable.

[scottycelt]

The choir singing at St Pauls was an absolute joy and so was the typically no-nonsense, yet thoroughly entertaining, address to the congregation by the Bishop of London.