From old Proms programmes :
"He has been attending concerts like this one for more than 17 years. He knows more about music than he knows about himself. He has written more than a million words about music and there's nothing else he'd rather do. He is demanding yet sympathetic. He enjoys, and always encourages, new work as much as he enjoys the classics. He is probably the most respected and widely read critic in Britain. ...He is the Music Critic of The Times. " 1966!
"Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast/And every housewife who with GAS is blest/Has limitless hot water, cooks with ease/Each meal -- a banquet -- every guest to please" (ad for North Thames Gas 1965)
Oh, happy days! When the Times reviewer's benevolent omniscience was coyly veiled in the unsigned review. Some of today's "quality" press reviews might be better anonymous too. But for a different reason -- to spare what ought to be the blushes of the reviewers.
ReplyDeleteAnd happy days when you didn't have to worry that heating a bathful of water might bankrupt you and kill the planet.