Daniel Beland asks:

>Do you know Vermeulen, another great Deutch composer?

Only the Third Symphony.  I'm hearing it again as I write ...and find
maybe I hadn't really listened as closely as it deserves.  What would
you recommend?

I'd compared Marcel Landowski's aversion to flashiness with Stevens',
and DB replied:

>I don't know this composer... Do you have any specific work or recording
>in mind?

Several (I envy you the discovery): Bernard Stevens {1916-1983}: Cello
Concerto {w.Alexander Baillie}; A Symphony of Liberation (BBC Phil./E.Downes)
MERIDIAN CDE 84124.  Also his Violin Concerto {w.Ernst Kovacic}; Symphony
#2, Op 35 (BBC Phil./E.Downes) MERIDIAN CDE 84174.  SQ works: Theme &
Variations for String Quartet Op.11; String Quartet #2; Lyric Suite for
String Trio. (Delme Quartet) (Unicorn DKPCD 9097).  And, not least: Piano
Concerto Op.26 {w.Martin Roscoe}; Dance Suite Op.28; Variations Op.36.
National Symphony Orch.of Ireland/ Leaper (MARCO POLO 8.223480)  I think
there's a choral CD as well.

See reviews by Steve Schwartz of at least two of these CDs, maybe all 3
orchestral ones, via: http://www.classical.net/

I've been meaning to thank him for the tip (-- Gracias, Esteban!).
Also to raise a question related to a point raised below: the Stevens
PC sounds to me lightly peppered, here and there, with bouncy Constant
Lambertish seasoning.  ...not worthy of mention in the review?  Maybe
not significant, tho' I found it refreshing.

>>- Elisabetta Brusa (1954-): Extraordinary: tuneful yet strong, fiercely
>>dissonant, superbly orchestrated works of a very high order.  Review to
>>come of both Naxos CDs, time permitting.
>
>Good, tuneful and colorful music indeed! But from my perspective it's too
>derivative to be extraordinary:-)

Ah, debt.  Well, to me, if her music were redolent with any single
composer, or two, if it was a considerable, obvious debt, I'd have to
agree.  Luckily, perhaps out of ignorance, I'm spared this: I only hear
lessons learned from Stravinsky and no one else specifically.  But even
then, I perceive no vulgar pastiche nor clumsy homage done unpoetically.
So I'm not nagged by echoes of any others.

OTOH, I'd agree that her compositions are not hugely original -- say,
in the league of Schnittke or Ustvolskaya.  But I can live with that.
First, no-one is sui generis original: S. or U. without DSCH would be
hard for me to imagine.  And yet Rautavaara, for instance, who probably
sounds like a handful of his predecessors, is in possession of a sound-world
that's still fresh and marvellous to my ear.  In short, yes: I guess I'd
want to stick with 'extraordinary.'

>>- Ahmet Adnan Saygun (1907-1991): Turkish composer...
>
>I especially like his Third Symphony, which sometimes reminds me of
>Bartok without being derivative. Truly extraordinary music indeed:-)

I was listening to his First this afternoon.  He seems to have been born
fully formed!

>... But my top recommendation is certainly Radulescu's Piano Concerto
>(The Quest)... This music is so original, colorful and exciting that you
>won't believe your ears:-)

Now _this_ is why I wrote my list ...to hear others' recommendations.
Thanks: I'll look into it.

Bert B.