[...] "Tis sixty years since" - and more - since Beethoven's Sonata Pathétique opened the gates of Paradise for me & made the drudgery of scales and exercises seem worth while. So perhaps I am not quite an "ordinary listener"; but, when it comes to much of modern manufacture, both at home & abroad, that passes for "Contemporary Music", I do feel very ordinary. As I understand you are going to refer to this in your interesting and illuminating talks on "the unexpected in music", may I state some of my difficulties in this respect? [...]