<html> <head> <meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> This extract from an interview with Earl Wild by George Bedell of SHUMEI magazine is apropos: "Well let's face it: Schoenberg was a sour pickle. His early works were wonderful. I love them. But when he decided to put his foot down on all that had been done before, when he got into that 12-tone serialism it was the great mistake of his life. The composer Korngold said that Schoenberg played the dirtiest trick on music that had ever been done. That's never been in print, but I can tell you that that is what he said". Bernard Herrman in an interview on a CD I have of his film music mentions the same comment by Korngold. Personally, I am a sucker for a "chune".  There is surely some merit in the argument by John Mauceri of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, that it was Broadway and movies that kept decent composing alive in the decades following the first world war, when so-called "serious" composers got into twelve-tone stuff. There was also the comment by conductor Sir Thomas Beecham. Asked "Did you ever conduct any Stockhausen?" he replied "No, but I once trod in some". Best regards, David. <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.davidboyce.co.uk">www.davidboyce.co.uk</a> <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 20/02/2013 15:17, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:pianotech-request@ptg.org">pianotech-request@ptg.org</a> wrote: </div> <blockquote cite="mid:mailman.5461.1361373451.4133.pianotech@ptg.org" type="cite">David, I agree with you 100%! And when you hear the dread words "World Premier" preceding a symphony orchestra broadcast on NPR these days, have your hand ready to turn it off, or suffer! (Many "Serious Music" composers now have the same cacophonous malevolence toward humanity as "punk rockers", apparently. Perhaps "getting back" at everyone, because, despite high grades, they couldn't get a date in High School.) Thumpe </blockquote> </body> </html>