CLASSICAL HORIZONS: Is it possible that Herr Augstein with his SPIEGEL sensed a new impetus for his denigration campaign from your letter – which leaves no doubt about your opinion of the state music universities’ ability to judge the phenomenon of “musical talent”?

PETER HUEBNER: Yes, I think so! But that applies also in particular to the president of the GERMAN MUSIC COUNCIL.

CLASSICAL HORIZONS: Prof. Dr. Mueller-Heuser, who at that time was the president of the STATE UNIVERSITY OF MUSIC COLOGNE and had also received your letter, and was surely irritated or at least an­noyed about your opin­ion regarding his professional incompetence.

And we may assume the same about his colleagues at the other state academies of music – or am I mis­taken?

Following this ‘open’ letter – he could now probably expect wide support against you from his col­leagues at all the other academies of music in Germany.

PETER HUEBNER: What devastated me was: not one of them thought about those who were actually most affected by the letter: about those music enthusiasts who, due to false assessment by the university, fail their entrance and final exams in spite of possible great talent for music, and then, with no hope at all and aban­doned by the music experts, are left lonely and deserted – without any kind of future prospects in the field of their beloved music!

Mich I was shocked by their ice-cold dealings with the phenomenon of a person with genuine musical talent, who is not even responsible for being bestowed with such a gift! The person with a genuine talent for music is confronted with the phenomenon of a run-of-the-mill college examination with the impotence of an innocent child – all he or she could say about this whole music policy is merely: “Here I am, I can’t help myself, so help me God!”