Of the list of 37 pieces to be performed on Louisiana Philharmonic
programs, Steve Schwartz asks:

>How much of this stuff *don't* you have in your CD collection or haven't
>heard many times before?

Well, there were 35 chestnuts, one piece by someone or something
called Proto (perhaps a robot composer), and a harmonica concerto by
Menotti--doubtless a giddy modernistic experience for the Louisiana
audience.  Hey, how much excitement can an audience stand in a year?

However, Steve raises a significant question by suggesting that the
audience is NOT as stodgy the symphony's board, who impose this kind of
programming, suppose.  I think he is right.  Moreover, the programming
on most commercial "classical" FM stations represents the same kind of
thinking, except that the fraction of chestnuts is even higher than 35/37
(0.94595), and is more like 0.99999.  Here again, I doubt that the
listeners actually demand this kind of utter uniformity.  The problem is
that the management types who are in charge shrink in horror from anything
other than uniformity.  I think It is not the market itself which imposes
this almost totalitarian culture, but the way our American management
culture interprets the demands of the market.

The fact is that the sociology is noticeably different in Europe.  For
example, last Spring the Malmo~ Symphony premiered a concerto by the
contemporary Daniel Bo~rtz, considerably grittier, I am sure, than a
Menotti harmonica concerto.  I was please to observe that the audience
(which included plenty of seniors) responded with enthusiasm.  Malmo~ is
a blue-collar port city with a population of about 250,000.

Jon Gallant