Free Republic

The composer of Jerusalem has been effectively ‘cancelled’ by the Royal College of Music (RCM) because his views on race a century ago are unacceptably offensive to today’s woke students, The Mail on Sunday understands. Sir Hubert Parry is celebrated for his music to the words of the poet William Blake, and is a favourite of King Charles. Three rooms at the elite college of which he was a director for almost a quarter of a century have long borne his name.

He arguably did more than any other artist to raise morale during the dark days of the Second World War. But Noel Coward secretly longed for Nazi bombers to attack Hollywood because he was furious at the failure of fellow British stars in Los Angeles to rally to the country’s aid during the Blitz. In an angry letter to the novelist and dramatist Clemence Dane, which is among a cache of papers being sold at auction, the playwright and composer said longed for the ‘happy and beautiful’ bombing raid.