MUSIC

Bishops in central Italy have told their clerics that secular works by composers such as Beethoven and Mozart are not to be heard in holy places because the music is insufficiently religious. A spokesman for the Curia of the Emilia Romagna region said Wednesday they had formally reminded clergymen that a 20-year-old edict which banned profane music from the region’s churches was still binding and must be respected in future. The terms of the edict ban, among other works, Beethoven’s symphonies, Mozart’s piano concertos and the “Brandenburg Concertos” of J.S. Bach. “This is a disciplinary act . . . Such (profane) music was forbidden before but every so often the rules need repeating,” a Curia spokesman said. “People’s memories are short and there has been a certain tendency to ignore the edict.”