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Original Question
I'll digress immediately so that I have a chance of getting on track
and perhaps staying there to the end.
The comments on Schoenberg have been interesting. I was particularly
struck by the mention in two posts of Stravinsky. Stravinsky was on
my mind when I wrote my first most and not in any particularly
favorable way. Neither list member ventured a qualitative opinion but
seemed to see Stravinsky as a kind of litmus paper for radicalism.
Interesting and quite the opposite of what I had in mind.
None of the above was what I had in mind to say when I spoke about
digressions. The expert IMO is whoever likes a particular composer.
Those who don't like a composer disqualify themselves from judging
the composer unless there is something egregiously wrong that anyone
with normal acumen can discern.
What I did start out to say was that there have been no responses to
the question of whether Steve Reich deserved the extravagant praise
in the review that was quoted a day or two ago.
It seems to me that GG may have been somewhat backward-looking when
it came to contemporary music for the piano. Both Takemitsu and
Messiaen wrote much music for the piano and I'm sure that one could
assemble a substantial list of exciting contemporary composers whom
he did NOT perform. Can the more experienced listers fill me in on
this? Are there unreleased recordings of contemporary music that we
need to take into consideration? Did GG express his thoughts about
living, breathing composers and their music?
Thanks
Bob