Richard Pennycuick <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I've just bought a CD of overtures by JPE Hartmann.  It contains a work
>called The Golden Horns which uses a speaker.  It's a form I find very
>annoying. ...
>
>Anyone to defend?

Yes and No!  Depends on what the speaker is saying.  I've got Liszt's
melodramas (on Hyperion).  A melodrama is a (spoken) recital with musical
accompaniment.  The poems are all more or less "Gothic", so they are pretty
exciting in combination with the music.  Still, there are one in Hungarian
and one in Russian and since I don't understand a word (the poems are of
course printed an translated, but still...), it is less exciting.  Finally,
I think that these works are best appreciated if seeen and heard live.

Mikael
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