Letter: Radio 3 sharpens its schedule

Sir: Further to Bayan Northcott's article "Core values" (1 August), listening to classical music is one of the greatest pleasures in my life. But, as one who has received no formal music education, I am aware that my appreciation of the full riches of music is severely limited by a lack of technical knowledge of instruments and playing techniques, and of composition in all its aspects.

My interest in classical music owes a great deal to Antony Hopkins's programme "Listening to Music": I was strongly reminded of the role of such informal presentations in educating, inspiring and eventually "capturing" naive listeners, by a recent thrilling dissection and re-assembly of Petrushka on Radio 3. So, Nicholas Kenyon, please remember that access without exposition is a lost cause.

FRANK FAHY

Southampton, Hampshire