From the Stop the War Coalition site in Britain:
Anti-war Song of the Week
Elgar‘s Cello Concerto played by Jacqueline Du Pre
Composer Edward Elgar wrote this concerto as a reaction to the 1914-18 World War, in which close to a million British soldiers were killed. From his home in Sussex, Elgar could hear across the Channel the rumble of artillery firing. He was so depressed by the war that he composed very little during those years, until this concerto in 1919.
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Britons ‘clueless about classical’
Arts: Britain may be a nation of music lovers but we are clueless when it comes to classical composers, a survey revealed yesterday.
One in three people (33 per cent) have never listened to classical music and a small number of people (4 per cent) wrongly identified Bocconcini – small Italian cheese balls – as a composer.
Most people were unable to link composers to their masterpieces, the Reader’s Digest survey of 1,516 people found.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/94352
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Headline: Small Italian cheese balls mistaken for composer. Oh dear! It’s such a shame that many people think classical music is dull, although the worse assumption some make is that it’s only there to make pretentious people feel smart. Not to mention the problem with the whole elitist image :-(
Anyhow, a big thank-you for sharing this! It was nice to see the pictures of Jacqueline DuPre at the end, too :-)
Hi Jill, thanks for your comment!
Many people have the idea that, to listen to classical music, they have to wear expensive formal clothes and sit still for hours, which limits the appeal of the music.