LAND OF HOPE AND GLORY

posted by James Reel

    My intemperate remarks on Elgar and British music criticism have caused a very small stir, although I doubt I will ever have the honor of being excoriated in the Sun. Poor Helen Radice, in cardiac arrest, has summarized my position as “The British are shit,” so perhaps I should offer a clarification to my readers from across the pond. It’s mainly your critics’ boosting of all music English that annoys me. I appreciate many other aspects of your culture: serious newspaper coverage of your entertaining arts scandals (nobody in the U.S. cares enough to cause or recognize arts scandals, unless religious sensibilities come into play), public fistfights among your literati (American writers and journalists are friendless and drink alone), and superior taste in television (we hail as “masterpieces” what you regard as business as usual). Your cuisine is gradually improving, too.