SHORTLY after the announcement of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisations (NPO), I wrote in the Morning Star about the questionable choices which ultimately were a hack-and-slash at the arts and warned about the negative connotations which were going to follow. 

Since then, there have been many developments and announcements – including Glyndebourne and Welsh National Opera reducing touring, English National Opera making some developments but still without anything completely finalised, and the Oldham Coliseum permanently closing its doors. 

On May 5, the North-West Psappha Ensemble announced that due to the 100 per cent funding cut from the Arts Council, which made up 40 per cent of their overall annual income, they were unable to overcome the deficit and will be permanently closing when they finish their “Composing for…” series and completely shut up shop in the summer. 

Many artists have been outspoken, highlighting their devastation at this announcement. And I share that feeling also. But their closure speaks of a much bigger problem for the whole art form within Britain. Without investigating the broader problem that is beginning to sink itself into Britain, we will fail to fight for a cure to what currently ails us. 

Classical music is an art form which, despite the disagreements around “canon,” has a lineage which can be traced over a millennium, which in turn has a multitude of evolutions, renditions, and facets which resulted from a combination of national development, technology, the make-up of society, and the inventive ideas of composers and musicians. Because of this tradition our cup overfloweth and we have an almost infinite number of pieces which have been composed or are being composed as we speak. 

However, this wealth of history, combined with market forces, has meant often classical music institutions have tied themselves in knots – either to remain profitable, or to cater to the tastes of their audiences which is often used as an excuse to play historic works over newer works.

This meant that for many composers – who aren’t international superstars like Arvo Part or John Williams – they have had to rely on ensembles which are dedicated to “contemporary music.” These specialist ensembles mean composers have been able to have an avenue to hear their works and earn a living, however it has also contributed to the stereotype: classical music is just music by dead people; music by living composers is an unprofitable niche. 

When a circumstance like this is left in the hands of a party who would charge us to use any toilet or to breathe air, if they could get away with it, we are seen as an easy thing to throw away. So as we have seen, big champions of living composers – Psappha, Sound and Music, London Sinfonietta, and Britten Sinfonia to name a few – were hit extremely hard, which has ramifications which could take decades to undo. 

With fewer avenues for composers to work in Britain the ability to work as a composer simply becomes harder and harder to achieve.

This will see composers having to look to other nations for regular work – meaning British talent can end up out of the reach of British audiences – and at the same time only see wealthy individuals who can up sticks and move, leaving working-class composers with the choice of destitution, juggling another job while trying to maintain a passion, and not getting heard because of the lack of places to be performed. 

With fewer composers being performed, classical music will be seen more and more as an elitist, or dead, art form.

This, combined with continued attacks on music education in schools, means that children and young people are only getting to hear what is easily accessible, which nine times out of 10 is some highly produced Yankie artist who would drown without autotune, or another Hans Zimmer creation for some hyped-up movie. Meaning that if the only choices we are allowed to hear are innocuous or bland music from the US, what inspiration does that offer to a young budding potential composer? 

Relevancy is a rather charged word in relation to the arts council, as it has used it as a stick with which to beat groups into destitution. But, if we look at classical music today and see how the art form is being pushed adrift, like a disgraced pirate after a mutiny, how will some youngster in a council estate see how it can be relevant to them? 

I’ve talked numerous times about how I only got into music thanks to the colliery bands. I also owe them my trade union militancy.

Had I not had the chance to just blast some notes on a baritone horn with the youth band I wouldn’t have been able to open up the rest of the musical world that comes with it, and in turn entertain the idea of being a composer at all. 

It does not take much for someone to lack access to classical music. Because it is not a profitable art form, it is constantly battling against all the odds to be heard. 

As it currently stands, in Britain we are at a crucial point. 

If the attacks on the art form win, whether they be on education (and access to it), on ensembles, on orchestras or opera companies, and if the art form as a whole is left to the forces of the free market, classical music will die as a posh boy’s sport. 

What is desperately needed is a political vision which counters this. A political vision which shouts – nothing is too good for the working class – and in turn ensures that each corner of Britain has music within reach. 

As William Morris said: “I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few” – and I’ll keep ranting in the Morning Star, and other places about this, even if it drives me insane. I just hope we can start actually fighting to stop this vandalism. 

Will you fight with me?