James Kearney wrote:

> Michael Berkeley, a leading British composer, said: "Asking a composer
> to cut his work is like castrating something conceived as an overall
> arch.  Artists conceive things as a whole.  It's not like buying floor
> tiles - you can't just cut bits off." Some scores have been improved
> by being shortened, he said, but the decision was always taken by the
> composer.

Well the Catholic Church is no stranger to castration...consider it was
only in this century when the last castrato in the Vatican choir passed
away.  Also consider all the directives the Catholic Church has placed on
music...even in this century "Motu Proprio," as penned by Pius X and
"Mediator Dei" of Pius XII.

Karl