Letter : Elgar's symphonic sketches deserve a hearing

Sir: Raymond Monk's letter (1 March) was doubtless written before the Independent published its prompt correction to a very misleading note at the bottom of Anthony Payne's article about Elgar's Third Symphony (24 February). The Elgar Foundation might well have gained the impression from the note that the BBC intended to go further than the legal agreement of 1934 allows, but I hasten to assure them and your readers that this is not the case.

The subject of Elgar's Third Symphony has long been a legitimate and indeed fascinating subject for journalistic and musical enquiry, and it is in this spirit that Anthony Payne will be exploring the subject in his Radio 3 documentary on 19 March as part of a major series of Elgar broadcasts in the network's season Fairest Isle.

There is no intention on the BBC's part to do anything other than represent the sketches exactly as Elgar's daughter bequested them to the Corporation, and indeed Anthony Payne has been in close touch with the Elgar family in planning this programme. The legal agreement will be fully respected.

Yours faithfully,

NICHOLAS KENYON

Controller

BBC Radio 3

London, W1

2 March