ABSTRACT
On a Saturday in September 1930 George Bernard Shaw took the train to Crystal Palace, sat in the Main Hall of that great building (in a prominent seat it might be added), and listened to the same piece of music performed eight times in succession. At one point he was so carried away with delight that he insisted on congratulating conductor and players. Only a prior evening engagement and the need to catch a train to London prevented him frorn hearing four more performances of the same work. Shaw was not normally such a patient man, so what had brought him to this unlikely situation?
