Single vision

There’s been much grumbling in the shires about Radio 3’s 12-day Mozart marathon.

There’s been much grumbling in the shires about Radio 3’s 12-day Mozart marathon. Why burden us with so much baroque? Where do you go if you can’t abide all those notes? But actually there’s something wonderfully cleansing about knowing that what you’re going to hear at any time of day or night on the music station is bound to have a K number attached to it. It’s like going on a diet after too many mince pies and brandy butter.

Hearing nothing but Mozart is certainly a test of the composer’s mettle, but as the Bach and Beethoven seasons have already proved it’s truly astonishing how much can be gained from listening to just one musical voice, a single harmonic vision, for a few days. The mind stops racing ahead, or flitting constantly from one thing to another at random, perplexed by too much choice.