Steve Schwartz responds to me:

>>I also think it's a great pity that Britten effectively pre-empted the
>>use by anyone else of the poetry of Wilfred Owen.
>
>Why "effectively?" I don't see why another composer can't set Owen, even
>the poems that Britten set.  The only reason that occurs to me is that
>Britten set them so effectively, so well that you can't imagine another
>setting as good.  Even I, a firm admirer of the WR, don't go *that* far.

But anyone daring to use WO's poems is inevitably going to risk comparison
with the WR, which is an "accepted" masterpiece.  I am unaware of anyone
else, in the almost 40 years since the WR was composed, using Owen's poetry.

deryk barker
([log in to unmask], http://www.camosun.bc.ca/~dbarker)