Rachel Lee wrote:

>You mean to say, Don, that John Williams actually WROTE music for the
>film...I would have thought by now he would be in prison for Grand Theft
>Musicius.

I am somewhat baffled by the extreme hostility expressed on this list
towards John Williams, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Henryk Gorecki and a few
others.  I don't care much for them myself, but an awful lot of the
commentary sounds more like sour grapes than reasoned criticism.  I didn't
mean to single out Ms.  Lee's post, their have been dozens of others like
it, most of them from list-members whose opinions I respect.  Do we simply
resent that they make a lot of money? That doesn't seem fair.  Copland,
Stravinsky, Vaughn Williams, Bartok, Kodaly, Liszt (all of whom I like),
and many others have borrowed themes and ideas from folk music and/or
other composers, yet they are never attacked for their borrowing.  Can
anyone supply me with an objective (as opposed to an emotional) explanation
for this seemingly dual standard?

Mike Cole
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