THE TELEGRAPH: The Queen's composer has launched a stinging attack on the "dumbing down" of British society, singling out the commercialisation of art and Damien Hirst for particular criticism.
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, whose official title is the Queen's Master of Music, described Hirst's work - which recently raised £111 million at auction - as "manufactured artefacts without content."
In a speech to the conference of the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, he also criticised politicians and educationalists and warned that the country was in an "age of commercial depravity and irresponsibility".
He expressed concern over the perception that classical music was elitist, which he described as inverted snobbery, and said politicians had dumbed down so much they were "almost below the horizon". Queen's Composer Attacks 'Dumbing Down' of British Society >>> By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent | October 9, 2008
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