LETTER : Making a stand

From Professor N. Kurti

Sir: In common with C. J. Roulston (Letters, 15 August), I have never heard of, nor noticed, people standing up for the last movement of Beethoven's Ninth. They do not even do so when they should.

Several years ago, I was attending a reception at the European Community's JET Laboratory in Culham. About 100 people were there, many of them sitting. At 10pm, the official close of the function, the brass band gave a lusty rendering of the Ode to Joy. I was the only person to stand up to the Official Anthem of the European Community (now European Union).

Yours faithfully,

N. Kurti

Oxford