Celebrated British musician reveals close encounters with unhappy concert-goers on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs

The celebrated and controversial British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage says he has faced up to the fact that modern classical music is a major “turn-off” for many audiences, although he regrets the lack of repeat performances of contemporary work.

“What can you do? Strangely though, the pieces of mine that I have had played the most are the ones I thought were least likely to get performed again,” he said.