By the way, Stuart, just wanted to add my voice to those saying go with your own convictions when composing! Xenakis's Eonta was believed to be impossible when it was first being performed, and Boulez asked for the brass parts to be shared between several groups of players, and a colossal number of rehearsals. Now many groups are able to get through it - somehow when some show something 'can be done', then mysteriously others manage to do it as well. If composers past and present had not been prepared to push instrumental possibilities (if that's something they desire to do - of course it need not be), then lots of works now regarded as highly important would never have been written. The point of writing for orchestra (or any other medium) is to really supplement the orchestral repertoire with something that does not yet exist, but one feels should do, not simply to churn out another work that merely fulfils pre-ordained expectations of players, administrators, audience alike.

I wouldn't be opposed to any sponsor linking their name into ours - under the proviso that artistic direction remained solely in our hands.  A sponsor who wants to put their name alongside yours is more likely to stick-around medium/longterm, and that can only be good for stability and forward planning.

It's when the tail wags the dog that things go wrong.  Very often I have found that sponsors come up with silly ideas because they haven't been led to better ones by the organisation involved.  If you get into bed with a sponsor then you must ensure that the relationship remains one in which they support your work, and not the other way around.

For example, my friends at Helikon Opera in Moscow have a longtime relationship with Federal Express.  FedEx wanted an operetta, to which they could invite their corporate clients for a jolly time.  But with the right management from Helikon, they were persuaded that putting their money behind a production of a major work that wasn't at all jolly - THE CARMELITES - would win them the cachet of association with super reviews of a masterpiece.  In fact the show went on to win the Golden Mask Awards, which got them onto primetime TV etc, and the sponsors were tickled pink.  But if sponsors are left to their own devices, they are apt to think-up ideas which would make one blench... and actually would do themselves no good either.  Arts organisations must take the lead on these things.

I am sure Count Razumovsky wasn't disappointed with the results of his patronage

I think it was originally conceived as a ten-year relationship. I suppose they could have renewed it, but they must have decided to put their sponsorship priorities elsewhere.

Thanks for that - and Xenakis is a very good example as far as following one's convictions is concerned (I think Herma has caused a few palpitations as well  )

Dare one mention that said jingle also pops up in the Jocelyn Pook/Andrew Motion Mobile, premiered by the King's Singers at the 2002 Proms?

Yep, the Dough's dared.

Stuart (et al), yes, that certainly sounds like an 'ideal minimum' to me. But have you ever been in receipt of such a generous amount of time in such circumstances? I haven't. It's practically off the scale. Let's remember that, in this country at least, 9 hours is a day and a half - three three-hour sessions, with breaks, meaning no more than 8 hours in reality. For perspective let us recall (from the Sam thread) that the rehearsal time given to Hayden's entire concert, including Ives 4 for heavens' sake, was 9 (call it hours! So ok, the BBCSO is overworked during the Proms (although let's further note that they are a contracted, salaried orchestra so work the hours stipulated, not pro rata); but that's because the Beeb doesn't invest in a big enough variety of orchestras for the Proms. Perhaps the famously cynical attitude of the BBCSO players stems from this workhorse image they inevitably have.

Yesterday (2nd) evening on R3 at 9:15 p.m. there was a programme with David Matthews. May I ask for the opinions of posters here on his work. I very much enjoyed the programme and listening to his compositions.

I am not sure if this is the right place to put this question, or whether he has already been mentioned, because as the thread has reached a large number of posts, it will be too difficult to listen through all of them.

Ron

Thank you for the link.

Actually, listening to this evening's Prom, I was thinking how very pleased I am that I have so expanded my listening since about November last year. Never before had I listened to a Prom where the music has not been classical or traditional. I missed such a lot!