Nicolas Croze-Orton wrote:

>...  I think the Beethoven violin concerto is one of the most
>boring concertos ever written.  Any other list members on my side?

Interesting how this particular work has so often been a critical
barometer, lining people up on opposite sides of the room.  While not
immune to its occasional innovations and felicities, I don't find this
concerto particularly engaging.  I've also found myself, over the years,
mildly puzzled by just how many great piano concertos have been crafted,
and how few great violin concertos.

On the other hand, I have a large fondness for everybody's whipping boy,
the Triple Concerto.  I find it as inventive as the violin concerto, and
more satisfying musically.  I realize this is not just a minority opinion;
apparently, my judgment is simply perverse.  Since I am not one who holds
that my taste is hallowed simply because it is *my* taste, I wonder what it
is that I am missing when I listen to the TC.  Just where is the clumsy and
uninspired character of this work located?

A brief introduction is perhaps in order.  I teach philosophy, including
aesthetics and philosophy of music, at a campus of the University of Texas
that is snuggled down along the border, not far from South Padre Island
(come January, you're all invited).  I have a checkered past -- at one
point, I was an FM classical music announcer, and managed a couple of
public radio stations.  One of the list members, Aaron Rabushka, may
remember me from our time together at KOPN in Columbia, Missouri; and
another, Tom Godell, is a successor (and vast improvement, from what I
hear) of mine at WSIU in Carbondale, Illinois.

I very much enjoy the wit and insight so often in evidence on this list,
and I appreciate the opportunity to share in the conversation.

Thomas D. Pearson
Department of History & Philosophy
The University of Texas-Pan American