In connection with early Mozart, I'd written that even then:

>...the touch of genius is present.

And Joseph Previte sets me straight:

>That ain't no touch of genius,...  it's a full forced, from the shoulder,
>slap with the whole hand!!

Indeed it is.  'Never quite got around to finishing off that posting when
I sent it off (whoops!), but if anyone was wondering, I was referring
especially to his early Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord.  I have a
collection of his first 16, K.  6-15 and 26-31, all of which were composed
by the age of 9!

The liner notes for my 2-CD set -- with Gerard Poulet (vln) and Blandine
Verlet on Philips (438 803-2) -- claim that these sonatas hardly represent
the apex of his boyhood compositions.  Even so, these old favourites of
mine have got a simple elegance that's most endearing -- to borrow from TTL
a very apt adjective -- while being nothing short of awesome for their
mastery.

Bert B