The Loveliest Music You've Never Heard

The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Isle of Noises season aims to redress the unfair marginalisation of many 20th-century British composers and their melodic music.

- Pippa Cuckson

THE influence of Sir William Glock, who was head of classical music at the BBC and responsible for the Proms for 14 years (1959–73), endures—and not always for the good.

In championing the avant-garde (notably Pierre Boulez, Birtwistle, Stockhausen and Maxwell Davies), Sir William marginalised the many 20th-century British composers who preferred to work with tonality—what most of us would label ‘hummable’ tunes. Sir Arnold Bax, Edmund Rubbra and even the American Aaron Copland were reportedly on his rumoured ‘black list’; through necessity, many migrated towards film.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) has taken a bold step to redress this historic imbalance by showcasing British works at nearly every concert this year. Entitled Isle of Noises, its Royal Festival Hall season recommences this Friday (September 27).

The programme includes neglected concerti by Britten and Foulds, contemporary masterpieces by Thomas Adès that might it otherwise struggle to get an airing on London platforms and hidden gems by composers generally associated with the silver screen. In all, it’s the loveliest British music you’ve never heard.

Artistic director Timothy Walker says the LPO has taken a ‘well-calibrated risk’. ‘Why certain music is overlooked isn’t very explainable,’ he says. ‘Perhaps it’s the zeitgeist. It also has a lot to do with fashion. You get the stalwart pieces everyone has an appetite for and others that are overlooked because people’s bandwidth cannot extend beyond a certain canon. We wanted to show that British music sits with the world’s greatest and to programme it in a way that doesn’t “ghettoise” it.’