Wes Crone replied to Janos Gereben, regarding McCartney's new
"Working Classical" disk

>Sure, McCartney can't even read music and maybe Strauss was a better
>orchestrator....

Like Wes, I'm a BIG McCartney/Beatles fan, though I never bought either of
his previous forays into classical music.

Regarding those earlier sets, I read in an interview that he not only never
learned to read music, but he has specifically AVOIDED learning.  I don't
remember the exact quote, but it was something to the effect that he feared
that it would constrict his composition somehow.  Seemed a bit odd to me.
On the other hand *I* didn't write Eleanor Rigby.

>...I just get the impression from people that Paul McCartney should quit
>treading on "sacred" classical grounds.  I think this is nonsense and the
>people who say this are typically quite arrogant in feeling that they know
>what is good for others to listen to as well.

My impression for the reason for this feeling is different.  Most fans
will acknowledge that McCartney's writing ranges from Superb to Drivel.
His Superb stuff is the kind of thing that led Janos and Wes to use
phrases like "perhaps the greatest composer of contemporary lieder."

Theories abound about why the post-Beatles stuff has been less
consistently Superb, the most common being that he needs someone (e.g.,
John Lennon) to tell him that something is crap.  My guess is that after
his first classical piece, most listeners concluded that there wasn't
going to be a John Lennon and that all of his classical stuff would be
Drivel.  Others, like Janos sort of implied, would say his lack of historic
knowledge would put him at such a disadvantage that he's not likely to do
anything that's not been done before; that he would be at best a good
'amateur'...perhaps with really good melodies that last 3 minutes.  The
most optimistic point of view would be to hope that PM's 1999 classical
is where is 1962 pop was.  I say let him at it if he wants.:-)

William