Popt!

I've collected over the last year-and-a-half some quotations--some derisive, some not--from pop musicians directed at the c-music crowd.  It's too easy to poke fun at a music that's known for taking itself too seriously. Well last night I was reading about British composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle's reception of an Ivor Novello Award back in May.  In front of a largely pop-oriented crowd, Birtwistle accepted the award in a most unconventional way:

“Why is your music so effing loud? You must all be brain-dead. Maybe you are. I didn’t know so many clichés existed until the last half-hour. Have fun. Goodbye.”

Without seeing a video, it's hard to say if Birtwistle was clowning or sincere.  In my head, however, I see a crusty old man taking a dump on the youth who sells more records than he does.  Yet another case of the institute shouting from the ivory tower.