Joel Hill wrote:

>Karl wrote about the Brahms cadenzas for the Beethoven 4th.  Is there a
>recording that uses these cadenzas?

Idil Biret recorded the cadenzas.  I have a recording of the Concerto
with the Brahms cadenzas, played by Stefan Bardas.

>And - Isn't composing vanity anyway?  Aren't composers insisting that
>they have something to say in a particular genre that hasn't been said
>or said as well as they can say it?

I have often thought that way to some extent.  Yet, somehow, during the
years I composed, I found that I did so out of a need to express myself
and the resultant pleasure in hearing my thoughts realized in sound.
I can't say I thought that much about having the piece performed before
an audience, nor did I particularly care if anyone found value in my
work.  Upon reflection, that is probably why I turned to the computer
for my expression.  I could realize my thoughts and then listen to them,
without having to "inflict" them on others.  The down side of all of
this was the loss of the excitement of hearing what the performers brought
to my thoughts.

Karl