M Bach

[Harry Pickett]

O.k,
I can't leave this alone.  
"Bach was the first of the great composers. He was a culmination of
generations of musicians. I'm listening.
  
Delius is the last of the great composers. It never ceases to amaze me
the distinct American idiom of Delius and Dvorak." 

Firstly you need a definition of a great composer. Perhaps a musician
that transcends the craft of musical composition, and is able to
directly communicate with us with an ineffable, intangible quality could
provide a very general framework for approaching the question of what
constitutes great music and what makes a great composer.
In that case perhaps Guillame de Machaut or Phillipe deVitry, could
qualify as the first- if that is important at all. 
Composers such as Alban Berg, Schoenberg, Samuel Barber, Boulez,
Birtwistle and Stravinsky to me, seem to fit the bill.
Consider that if we could formulate exactly what constitutes a great
composer and great music as applied to all generations and music's, then
we would live in a boring world indeed.
For me at least Delius and Dvorak don't make the cut, where as Britten
and Elgar, who wrote in a similar late 19th century nationalist style
would.
I would certainly pit Elgars 'Dream of Gerontius' against the 'New
World' Symphony of Dvorak.
My much more than 2 cents worth- take it or.....
Harry Pickett
1800 Fairview Church Road
Riner, VA 24149
TEL: 540-382-0191

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On
Behalf Of RptBob1@aol.com
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2003 6:07 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Re: M Bach

In a message dated 7/25/2003 4:44:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
kennyfin@jetstream.net writes:


to bother you LIST:
  
Bach was the first of the great composers. He was a culmination of
generations of musicians. I'm listening.
  
Delius is the last of the great composers. It never ceases to amaze me
the distinct American idiom of Delius and Dvorak. 

Once you've been to Ireland, you're Irish! 
  


Ken:

Are you making these statements with tongue firmly planted in cheek???

Maybe I am missing something that was said earlier and you are making
light of someone elses opinions.  All composers you mentioned were
great, but were not certainly the "best" or the greatest.  Delius the
last great composer?? Come on, get serious.

Bob Bergantino, RPT
Willoughby Hills, Ohio