Tribute to Benjamin Britten, by Geoffrey King and Ananda Sukarlan

A.S. Am really curious about your string quartet………………..G.K. Did you read what I said?A.S. Yes.G.K. Is it understandable? It was a bit hard to explain.A.S. For musicians it’s understandable.G.K. Am just listenening to Britten’s Cello Symphony.A.S. Oh. Love it.G.K. I am still baffled by Britten’s poor reputation.A.S. Poor ??? Really ?G.K. Amongst the cognoscenti, I mean. Late 60s, early 70s, when I was a student, he was just dismissed. Did these people actually LISTEN to his work?A.S. Oh, by “avant-gardes”. They always dismiss people. Even their own mummy.G.K. I mean, that’s mastery that almost NO ONE has.A.S. Yes I know. I really envy him. Those people did too. That’s why they dismissed him. Envy. Jealousy.G.K. How can you just dismiss it? I don’t know anything about the piece, I must read about it. What a master he was.A.S. Yes. I have almost all of his works……Just some operas I don’t have. Owen Wingrave, Billy Budd. The rest, yes.