Larry Sherwood <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>8. Just to prove that John Williams is not alone among minor composers
>invited into a listener's "home", I'll include Richard Rogers' Edelweiss
>Song.

To gently disagree with Larry's statement: I would consider neither John
Williams nor Richard Rodgers to be "minor" composers, in any sense of
the term.

Mr. Williams, for one, has introduced more human beings to the sound of
the symphony orchestra, and its ability to mirror and evoke our emotions,
than any other single individual in the history of Western civilization.
That fact alone removes him from the category of "minor", regardless of
one's personal taste for his brand of cinematic Romanticism.

And Richard Rodgers, the composer in collaboration with lyricist Oscar
Hammerstein II, has created marriages of music and text and that in my
opinion are worthy to stand with the likes of any number of 19th century
masters.  Certainly they show every sign of the cultural immortality of
the best of art song.

The miracle of both men, I think, includes their ability to speak directly
and profoundly to both the common man and the connoisseur.

Just my $.02 worth.

John Proffitt
KUHF-FM Houston Public Radio