Joni Mitchell is the latest pop star to write classical music. “I guess that the trouble is – and I hope this doesn’t sound condescending, because I have huge admiration for their gifts – that Joni, Elvis, Damon and co haven’t troubled to develop a technique with which to negotiate these larger forms. They may listen enthusiastically to Bach, Wagner, Debussy and Stravinsky, but there’s something superficial and magpie-like about the way they pick up on them.”