Bob Draper wrote in response to Robert Lyman:

>>Each and every great composer has written masterpieces and not-so-master
>>pieces.  We judge them by their best.
>
>Is this really true though.  Do people judge Michael Haydn at his
>best (Masses, concertos, serenade chamber works) or at his worst
>symphonies?

Whether it's true or not depends on the personality of the individual.  It
is true for the "positive" person, not true for the "negatively" inclined
person.  Regarding M.  Haydn, I judge him by his "best", and the best music
of his I've heard is a Sony Vivarte disc of his string quintets performed
by L'Archbudelli.

Bob moves on (or back):

>Yet, again as I've mentioned before, the cd store shelves are stacked
>with dozens of versions of the Mozart sonatas and symphonies including
>his youthful works.

What does Bob expect? The most famous composers have the most cd's in the
stores and web sites.  That's life.  And, it's also very common for the
less masterful works of famous composers to get a "commercial boost" from
the name recognition.  None of this is going to change during my life or
Bob's.

"Donald Satz" <[log in to unmask]>