This weekend at Music & Vision, read British composer and conductor Oliver Knussen, in conversation with Roderic Dunnett: 'How does Knussen set about composing? "Usually I compose a little bit - four or five bars - and then design the shape of the whole piece from that. Writing the piece becomes filling in the shape. The ingredients of a piece are almost invariably stated at the very beginning - I like putting my cards on the table. But I probably don't know, even at that stage, what a work is going to sound like; often enough the shape will alter subsequently." ' http://www.mvdaily.com/articles/2001/11/knussen1.htm?a Music & Vision is Basil Ramsey's online classical music magazine, published every day (including weekends) since 1 January 1999. To read our latest email newsletter, send a blank email to [log in to unmask] http://www.mvdaily.com/?a Keith Bramich, technical editor, M&V [log in to unmask]