In creating a programme which features new music, initially we have the issue of diversity in style to consider. As in other eras there is also the wide range of quality from disastrous music to masterpieces to put into the equation. On both points we have the subjective element of personal preferences involved. Nonetheless, there are enough objective criteria to assert in the matter of judging what constitutes an accomplished work of art. When sitting on adjudication panels I am always interested to identify jury members who have a reasoned approach to judgement in balancing the subjective with the objective and those who veer towards wholly subjective. In assessing the qualities of a composition this balance is of vital importance in choosing the works which can result in an interesting concert. What will attract a wide range of concertgoers must go into the choices as well. A further question involves the aspirations of individual composers. What kind of audience do they compose for? A composer of integrity will reply that he/she has respect for the individuality of each member of an audience, not classes of taste. Therefore, it is not possible to compose for an audience. The composer can only express in the music what he/she feels to be a valid statement of artistic endeavour and hope that it will find resonance in some members of an audience. With these questions in mind as a starting point, a compelling programme will be dependent simply on a good idea.

There is common agreement that ‘ghettoising’ new music simply isolates it from potential audiences. Leon Botstein believes that programmes devoted entirely to new music ‘can create a fear and uneasiness in an audience’. He urges strongly that ‘young conductors especially must not fall prey to it’. He suggests that a ‘transparent logic’ should be asserted in creating a programme. ‘A formal structure which contains comparable musical attributes is a good starting point’, is how he puts it. In an orchestral concert the following choices might be made: a work by a composer who studied with Elliott Carter, a work by Carter himself, and one by Edgard Varese.