Johann Bach, one of the greatest composers of classical music, is alive! Well… at least one in five young Brits claim that he is, that’s according to a new survey conducted for the classical music streaming service Primephonic, which also found that three quarters of young people in Britain have never heard of another great composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Seventy percent of Brits aged between 18 and 34 said they'd never heard of the Austrian-born composer, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s best musicians.
By contrast, 94 percent of respondents knew that Adele was a singer. The survey also found out that Brits are also in the dark about their own classical musicians and patriotic songs. Thus, for example only a third of respondents knew that Sir Simon Rattle, who conducted the London Symphony Orchestra at the opening of the 2012 Summer Olympics in the UK capital, was a conductor and fewer than one in five had heard of Scottish violin virtuoso Nicola Benedetti, who was nominated for the 2020 Grammy Awards.
Leading British composer Debbie Wiseman, who also happens to be a Grammy nominee, said the poll highlighted the widespread ignorance of classical music. “I’m not at all surprised by this survey, but I am really saddened by it”, she said. Wiseman also called on schools to educate pupils about classical music and encourage them to participate in school orchestras.