William Copper writes:

>Actually, William Bolcom is my favorite example of a Dreiser-worthy
>American Tragedy in composers of music . . .

Thanks to commissions from a number of well-meaning friends in high places,
he's been crying all the way to the bank for some years now.

>. . . his rhythmic gifts are nothing less than prodigious, and he has fine
>talents in all the parts of music . . .

Absolutely agreed.  The breadth of his musical knowledge is close to
staggering, and the facility of his compositional technique second to none.

>. . . but his work is --- IMO --- barren.  (Unless he has changed in the past
>5 years or so, since I have not heard any recent music.)

I would be curious to know precisely what it is about his music that
leaves this impression.  The man has become so prolific (again, rather
like Milhaud) that it would be impossible to maintain a sustained level
of "inspiration" through every work.  I sometimes find a certain
post-modern cleverness for the sake of cleverness in his compositions,
which is undeniably entertaining much of the time, even when the resulting
music isn't particularly profound.  On the other hand, I have heard Bolcom
pieces which seem genuinely heart-felt.  The Lyric Opera production of "A
View from the Bridge" made a strong impression on me in person; in such a
theatrical work, I'm not sure that the recent CD release of the production
by New World Records would fully convey what it was like to experience the
work in the opera house, but it's certainly worth a listen.  I've also been
meaning to get a copy of the Centaur release featuring song cycles on poems
of Jane Kenyon -- I would imagine that mere facility and cleverness are not
the reigning considerations in those works, either.

Daniel Paul Horn