Letter:Attack on Britten is sour grapes

Sir: What a joy to read Malcolm Williamson's comments on Benjamin Britten. He is right to claim that most of Britten's music will not stand the test of time. The truth is that the handful of top-class pieces such as Peter Grimes and the Sinfonia da Requiem are sadly outnumbered by shoddy third-rate efforts such as The Prodigal Son, the War Requiem, the Cello Symphony, the Prelude and Fugue for 18 strings and worst of all, Young Apollo.

As for Benjamin Britten the man, what can one say about a man who once said, "The rot set in with Beethoven"?

MAURICE DAVIES

Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire