A highlight of this year's Proms Concerts season was a performance of the War Requiem, a large-scale work by renowned 20th Century British composer Benjamin Britten (Prom 37, Saturday 17th August).
 
Britten, a pacifist and conscientious objector, wrote the War Requiem as his artistic response to the horrors of war, and as a reflection of his anti-war beliefs. The Peace Pledge Union - the UK’s primary pacifist organisation, of which Britten was a prominent member for decades - booked an advert in the concert programme (copy below) highlighting how Britten's philosophy continued to resonate with many people to this day.
 
However, the producers of the programme infomed the PPU that the BBC overruled the acceptance of the advert, which was pulled from the programme before it went to press.
 
As can be seen, the advert - from the PPU and its associated peace education charity - was in no way polemical; it was a measured statement, by the organisation with which Britten was himself involved, pointing out that Britten's worldview is more than just historical; the perspectives conveyed by his music still inspire people today.
 
Albert Beale of the PPU said, "It's hard to reconcile the BBC's willingness to promote a profoundly political piece of musical culture - such as the War Requiem - whilst refusing to allow an organisation with which the composer was closely associated to refer to the reality of its timeless message."
 
"It's ironic", Albert Beale went on, "that for the media, peace seems these days to be more controversial than war. Can it really be that violence is non-political, but peace is political?"