Dear Lovers of the Muse, Of course we all love and are in awe of the
late-period works of Beethoven (for my part, I've just recently discovered
the late Bagatelles on a wonderful Naxos CD of the complete Bagatelles).
It's difficult to express all the extra-musical associations I have for
Beethoven's late-period works, but they would include:  music that is wise
but unaffected; resigned and wistful toward approaching death but still
not defeated--the beauty of the music itself being the purest and best
declaration that death may be inevitable but it need not inevitably be
a reason to surrender to it.

Now, before I get carried away with this, I'll get on with the reason
for this posting:  Who out there can recommend other composers in terms
of their late works? For example, I consider several of Prokofiev's late
works to be underappreciated such as the (once) so-called "Children's"
Symphony, #7--a bit uneven, perhaps (although I should qualify myself by
saying I haven't treated myself to a recent re-exposure to the piece) but
nevertheless quite haunting in its muted youthful nostalgia tempered by a
still formidable musical structure (and this after Prokofiev had suffered
from a crippling stroke I believe).

Other composers & works that seem to me to be quintessentially late-period
masterpieces:  Mozart's Clarinet Concerto; Janacek's opera "The Cunning
Little Vixen"; and Brahm's late piano works, especially the Intermezzi.
Again, the hallmarks for me that make for "late and great" are harmonic
mastery subsumed by a guilessness, an unaffected, seeming simplicity that
is nevertheless (or because of it?) quite profound.

Any other candidates you'd recommend?

Best,

Rob Baldwin
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