The difficulty of assessing the value of contemporary works of art is well known. We always seem to be either too close or too far away to see them in their true perspective. If we can understand or perhaps even speak their language, we are too close, too grateful for their expression of what we ourselves would express, while if we can only feel at home with the idiom of earlier periods, we fail to grasp their meaning. This is one of the reasons why such diverse and even contradictory opinions prevail on the subject of modern art. In music this divergence of opinion is perhaps not quite so apparent as in the other arts because people find themselves more easily out of their depth in discussing it, and are more prepared to leave the matter in the hands of experts. And yet, the desire for music and for a music that can adequately speak the language of today, is felt by many people at the present time.

Among the new works that have been played recently, Benjamin Britten's String Quartet has aroused great interest by reason of its striking originality of idiom and the individuality of its musical thought. It is one of his most recent works, commissioned by Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, whose generosity has been responsible for the creation of so much new music.

Britten's mastery of the technique of composition has for some time now been admitted by all; he has (incomprehensibly enough) even been reproached by some critics for the apparent ease with which he solves technical problems, as though a high standard of professional competence were undesirable.