Face the music.(letters to the editor)(New York Philharmonic Orchestra's visit to North Korea)(Brief article)

In his piece on the New York Philharmonic's trip to North Korea, Jay Nordlinger writes, "I myself would not accept an invitation from the regime of Kim Jong Il--certainly not to give a concert" ("Date in Pyongyang," February 11). That concert may indeed be "a boon to Kim," as Mr. Nordlinger fears. But we should remember that music has always been a threat to dictatorships. Plato, the grandfather of totalitarianism, would not have tolerated the manufacture of the flute or other instruments "capable of modulation into all the modes." He feared the power of music, as did Ayatollah Khomeini, as did Chairman Mao, who prohibited most music and theater, blessing only the eight revolutionary operas selected by his wife, Jiang Qing. I was teaching at Hebei University in Baoding, China, during the Beijing Spring (my reports ...