The performance of our national anthem after every gold medal won by Team GB in the 1912 Olympics was a national disgrace: timid, feeble, unsure of itself, it could have been bettered by any town band of yesteryear. Only one musician has ever made a dramatic event of it, and that was Sir Thomas Beecham. The rattle of a snare drum to grab your attention, the cymbals crash coinciding with the opening chord, the measured tempo in which every note was accompanied by a drum stroke, the crescendo leading to another almighty explosion of cymbals as the last phrase began fortississimo, then a rallentando leading to a grandly exaggerated tenuto on the last note, which I swear lasted all of six seconds. You knew you had heard something unique. The recording is still available. It would have been possible to make a modern recording using the same arrangement. Sir Simon Rattle might have summoned up the required flamboyance and the deep sense of drama. A great opportunity was missed.