Scott Morrison wrote:

>C'mon Satz.  Which is better, peaches or pears?

Peaches.

>Scott Morrison, who wouldn't presume to choose between Mendelssohn
>or Schumann, between Bach or Handel (born in the same year).

But I believe that all of us make these choices on a daily basis through
what we listen to and/or purchase.  Add up all those days and you get a
result.  Besides, this is all in fun.  It's not like deciding whether to
save one child vs.  another.

Steve Schwartz wrote in response to me:

>>The clear winner in a ten round decision is Schumann.  How did that
>>happen?
>
>You didn't listen to the right works.

For better or worse, I've listened to each of the works Steve mentioned
in his posting.  Mendelssohn and I are not on similar wavelengths.

Jim Tobin wrote in response to my question above:

>Thumb on the scale?

You got it.  Jim knows me too well.

>Didn't Mimi sing the delights of Schumann's trios?

She certainly did and very convincingly, but I'm not Mimi, something she
likely is very glad of.  I'm just trying to be myself.

I'd like to expand on the "choices" theme.  I wasn't thinking of
some objective means of comparing one composer with another, but of the
subjective/personal preferences we possess.  I wrote in a somewhat extreme
manner for a specific reason, but I don't go for the notion that rankings
of music or composers can be objectively decided.

Eating a great tasting pear and thinking of Scott,

Don Satz
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