Donald Satz <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Any other opinions?

Oh yes!

I don't go along with those who say 'such-and-such a composer is always
emotional, always triumphant, always bombastic' etc., since I believe these
are facets of a composer's art which have differing effects, depending on
the listener's emotional state at the time.

For example, I can listen to Bax's "Tintagel" when I am in the 'right mood'
and I get tingles down my spine and hot flushes.  On other occasions,
(presumably when I'm in the 'wrong mood' for Bax) it strikes me as just
another 'also ran' piece.  Another recent example is Gliere's Symphony No.
3 'Ilya Muromets:' two hearings a week apart with totally different
reactions on my part.

So -- composers whose music is 'excessively emotional' ON OCCASION (and
this is not necessarily a bad thing in my view) include Bax, Wagner,
Shostakovich, Richard Strauss, Denisov, Grechaninov, Gliere, Kokkonen,
Sibelius...the list goes on and on, but probably shouldn't!

Tim Mahon
Alexandria, VA
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