Eric James ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>I would be surprised, indeed, if anyone could give an objective
>explanation.  Williams, Lloyd Webber, et al are handy for facile put-downs.
>I suspect there is little substance other than the odd bit of thievery
>behind all the negative comments.  I, for one, resent ALW's use of
>Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in Jesus Christ Superstar.  Either it was
>cynical theft (Hey, they'll never know) or the man is woefully illiterate
>in the standard repertoire.  I can't, however, see what is so bad about his
>music otherwise.

Ripping off Mahler 8 in the Requiem, Vaughan Williams London Symphony in
Phantom of the Opera, Ravel in Cats, the list is endless.

Just the other week i had to sit through the Pie Jesu from his Requiem
performend by a troupe of 8-10 year old moppets (don't ask).  My principal
reaction was "what a godawful heap of crap this piece is!"

But then I don't think he pinched its theme from anywhere else.

BTW, I once read (in Private Eye, so...) that Lloyd's-Bank had sued a
German composer for plagiarism.  (Stop laughing at the back).

The case was apparently thrown out of court when the defence point to the
passge in (IIRC) a Beethoven sonata that they had *both* filched.

Deryk Barker
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