Richard Pennycuick wrote:

>There are several works by favourite composers that I've tried and had
>to pass on for this reason, eg Vaughan Williams's Oxford Elegy, Bliss's
>Morning Heroes, Schumann's Manfred.  I can just cope with the speaker in
>Beethoven's Egmont because there's not much of him.  The extreme example
>of this form seems to be Richard Strauss's Enoch Arden before which even
>seasoned reviewers have admitted having cowered in terminal boredom.
>I haven't heard it and have no desire to do so.
>
>Anyone to defend?

I can take the VW.  I'd add some von Schillings works to your list
and Honneger's Joan of Arc (I think that's the one).  Also the Bernstein
Kaddish Symphony, as I remember it.  Honneger's Joan of Arc (I think that's
the one).  Obviously for me anyway, most any foreign language "speaker"
work is on my avoid list.  In the LP world, I always stuck with the
Klemperer Magic Flute for two reasons: it's a great recording, and the
dialogue is eliminated.  But then I am a pathetic monolingual and admit
it--with shame, I might add, for it does create this kind of block.  (Yes,
I tried to learn two languages--with little success.)

Some speaker works I do like.  Lincoln Portrait, Schwanter's ML King work.
Persephone is a terrific work.

Generally, I agree, though.  I do tend to avoid these works, though I'm
sure there are other "speaker" works I like that I'm forgetting.

Roger Hecht