Bits and Pieces

"... I thought that he had very strong intellectual gifts and that he was a reliable representative of tendencies that were very influential at that time, partly influenced by John Cage. Many people thought that very silly and non-creative, very disruptive, designed only to ridicule the principles on which classical music had been written. And some people thought that, you see, that it was a proper mistake to appoint somebody who had these views, which were revolutionary in music. Well, I thought that it was a breath of fresh air into a classical atmosphere."

Sir Thomas Armstrong (former principal of the Royal Academy of Music) from an interview by Rosemary Rapport, Dec 1992, in answer to a question on appointing Cornelius Cardew as a professor