Am I the only one to have grown tired of the pretentious twaddle peddled out by Martin Dreyer each time the Guildhall Orchestra has the audacity to perform in public (Evening Press, May 17)?

What does he mean? What are "taut timpani"? What are "bleeding chunks" and what have they got to do with opera? "Instinctive abandon?" "The orchestra wore its heart on its sleeve?" And Mr Dreyer has the temerity to accuse Simon Wright of "needless self-indulgence".

Mr Dreyer should be mindful of his readership, the target audience of his waspish wisdom. He is writing for those who went to the concert last Saturday night and for those who didn't but who might go to a future one.

We have in York an outstanding group of amateur musicians who give up their time free of charge to rehearse and perform orchestral music which, to the average musical ear, is thrilling. T

he odd "inexact entry" escapes us. As does the fact that the orchestra may not have a "profound understanding of that most fiendishly difficult art form, the Viennese waltz".

These shortcomings did not, to my recollection, feature much in the conversation as we left the Barbican on Saturday. What did feature was a lot of cheery conversation about how much they had enjoyed the concert. And how nice it is to stay behind for a drink, chat with the players and listen to another (free!) bar-room performance by the brass section.

This is a seriously good amateur orchestra. And if Mr Dreyer could perhaps tell us about it in simple English and spare us his flowery prose (and especially his "bleeding chunks") then the audience of 500 might next time, and deservedly, be the 1,500 that the Barbican will hold.

Michael A. Mills,

Manor Drive North,

Acomb,

York.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.