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I thought that that was what the proms did ( apart form providing an excuse for English people to get up and sing Land of Hope and Glory).
Anyway, I think your point about the top 300 favourites is a good point. It tells you where the listening audience is. Even if everyone who listens to Classic Fm has their own list of 300 composers that is completely different there is evidently some commonality of opinion as to what classical audiences like. This does not mean you have to let it direct what you do. But it seems doubtful that composers can "educate" audiences. Listeners have choice and they use it. They have no responsibilities and all the privilieges ( I might have said this before). They mostly get their music for free and if they don't like it they can switch off or switch over. There was a time when composers thought they were leading public opinion onto new realms of sensibility. I'm thinking of Boulez's comment about the "necessity" of 12-tone technique. I think now we understand that the listening public is not so passive or pre-occupied by the same things that composers are.
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Not so young
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