If the Mercury 2012 judges want to reward fresh and dynamic new music, why has classical music disappeared from the list? There's no classical on the Mercury shortlist this year; just another season in which the tumbleweeds turn for contemporary classical music at the industry's most prestigious gong, and in which a prize that's supposedly all about honouring music that "pushes music in fresh and dynamic directions" closes its ears to some of the most innovative music being written and recorded today. Without being flippant – or possibly being very flippant indeed – there's more dynamism and freshness in, say, Jonathan Harvey's Bird Concerto with Pianosong or Michael Finnissy's String Quartets than some of the artists on this year's shortlist will manage in their entire careers in music, I entirely unhumbly predict. Sour grapes from a bleating and ever-complaining sector that receives more state funding than any aspiring alt-rock band will ever hope to manage? And if you loo...
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