Of course classical music is a signifier of class in this country and it'll continue to be as long as the wretched class system is in place.

Locally the music grants for instrument learning were slashed, I suspect this pleased those who seek through classical music a validation of their superior class positioning.

I too have felt the isolation Allen describes, but the difference is I’m a white male who writes about classical music for a living.'  Download free Raj Comics Pdf

'For the rest, think of water and ducks in any number of manifestations.'-
that's very kind of you. So you are around 12? Oh, that explains your article and all.

Andrew Mellor and Philip Clark. A sinister left wing enclave at Gramophone.

As a recent music graduate from the University of Cambridge, and a student who has performed in, produced, attended and reviewed a wide variety of professional and amateur concerts in recent years, I think that Mr Mellor has a point, despite the sneers of previous commenters. Putting aside comments on the types of concerts Mellor has attended (and the means through which he acquired his tickets), which seem to be little more than assumptions designed to ridicule and undermine his argument with very little substance of their own, his observation on the Proms programme is entirely valid. A huge number of advertisments within refer to the music departments of private schools, seemingly oblivious to the fact that a music department is not a rare thing in a school, and unless it is of truly exceptional quality cannot in any viable economic system be a selling point which marks it out from its competitors. Sweeping comments made below that most attendees at these concerts will be parents hoping to pack their children off to such schools are vacuous at best and potentially far more damaging, since such an attitude is one that sees the perpetuation of useful advertisement space being filled up by one niche corner of the market. Surely it would be of far greater gain to classical music within this country if advertisements for schools all over the country were replaced by advertisements for the music services run by LEAs or councils? Such a set of services gave me huge amounts of experience in orchestral music which enabled me to move onto national youth orchestras. Advertisement space would inform people that such services exist in their area (often they are not as well-known as one might hope) and could publicise their concerts, leading to a greater revenue for the local orchestras and music services.
As far as the question of elitism in performance and attendance goes - well, you can't force people to attend and enjoy classical music concerts any more than you could force someone to attend and enjoy an Elvis tribute concert. However, I do not believe that this is Mellor's point. Despite my high level of involvement with all manner of musical productions in Cambridge and London, as well as elsewhere in Europe, I feel that my background (an Essex state school) is not always welcomed at certain institutions, and that my relatively high level of musical knowledge is not of import: even if the music world IS now more of a meritocracy than a system based on one's contacts, the fact of the matter is that, as a young musician, it simply does not feel like one. There is a difference between 'taking music seriously', appreciating classical music and respecting its performers and creating a mystical aura around it; making classical music a concept rather than an art. Music should be listened to live, it should be experienced and shared: it is a language. Too often, still, it is relegated to a concept in which bragging rights in the bar in the interval are of a greater importance than its fundamental message - whatever that may be to an individual.

Great response - John41.

I'm bothered by the idea this writer is 'fearful' for his friends who 'do not fit in' to the scene he 'invites' them to - is he worried they'll be beaten up, backstage?

Instead of posting doom and gloom messages about the few elitist pedants, why not write a piece encouraging just the opposite? Why not encourage MORE concert-going by those who otherwise wouldn't?

As a former music student and musician, I can attest the snobbery does exist, but only in the smallest of upper circles. I've yet to meet a professional musician who isn't unfailingly kind and supportive of promoting musical arts to those who might not otherwise benefit. Those are the stories that undermine the snobs.

Surely the blanket advertising by private schools in concert programmes also says something about the rather unimaginative people selling ad space and trying to get sponsorship for orchestras and opera houses. I'm consistently amazed at the lack of ability to think creatively displayed by the administrators of arts organisations - pretty ironic!

Having not lived in the UK for ten years, I do not feel qualified to comment in print on the original article, though I have my views on it. However, as a writer and music critic who frequently attends festivals and concerts in France and Germany, I will assert that Hugo's claim that concerts in other European countries contrast badly with UK classical concerts in terms of "accessibility, diversity and unstuffiness" is ill-informed nonsense. Particularly in France, there is a refreshing freedom from the kind of class argument being advanced by this piece and the responses to it. At morning festival concerts it is common to find quite young - and normally well-behaved - children attending without a hint of the black looks you would get in the UK if you turned up at a concert with your young offspring in tow. In both France and Germany audiences of my experience are notable for their sociability - even when identifying you as a critic!

'if you don’t look and sound like you know what you’re talking about you may well be stared at, judged and made to feel uncomfortable by someone who thinks they do'

This is not unique to classical concerts. As an audience member at both classical and popular music concerts I've actually found this display of superiority to be far worse within the context of popular music.

'I too have felt the isolation Allen describes, but the difference is I’m a white male who writes about classical music for a living.'

I actually find this comment pretty ugly.

If you're 'a white male who writes about classical music for a living' and gets upset about audience snobbery at the concerts you attend, may I suggest a couple of ways to deal with this?
1. instead of accepting complimentary press tickets (invariably located in the more expensive seats), make a decision always to pay for your own seat and sit with the rest of us in the cheaper areas. Then not only will you find the attitude of the audience to be better, but you will be helping out the concert-giving organisation. (Of course, you may already be doing this anyway, in which case please accept my apologies)
2. support amateur musicians. There are thousands of amateur orchestras, choirs, opera groups all over the country. If you go to their concerts, not only will you often enjoy music-making of far more freshness and intensity than you will sometimes experience from professional groups, but you're much less likely to endure snobbish audiences. More likely, they will mainly be families and friends of the performers and you won't get much snobbery there. And while you're at it, review their concerts, giving them the national exposure they need and so often deserve.
3. if you do encounter irritating, snobbish audience members, try ignoring them - or just laughing at them. I find this works well.
4. if you are so uncomfortable with the sponsorship of classical concerts and opera and with the adverts for private schools - get over it. They could be using their money to sponsor far worse things. And if it means I can pay £65 for the top seats at Covent Garden to see Birtwistle's 'The Minotaur' this coming winter, while a couple of miles away people are paying £87 to watch (a far more heavily sponsored) Chelsea FC, that seems like a pretty good result to me.

What an article full of self-flagellating whiney nonsense. I go to concerts all the time. I do not look like the typical concert goer (though I do know a fair bit and can talk the talk). I have never been made to feel uncomfortable. Quite the contrary, people seem to often be interested in my expertise. As to ads from private schools, does it strike this author that they are positioned to people who may want to send their children to schools which teach classical music? Unsurprisingly a lot of those people maybe in the audience of a classical music concert? Sheesh. The London seen is great, and except for the difficulty in getting tickets and the need for pre-planning, is very accessible.

Yet if you popularise it you change it radically. It's more than notes on paper.