John White wrote:

>Last night I witnessed a spirited performance of Shostakovich's 15th and
>last completed symphony given by our local band, the Isle of Wight Symphony
>Orchestra, under their conductor, Jonathan Butcher.
>
>The only bit in it that passed my "Whistle Test" (see my recent post), was
>the quotation from Rossini's William Tell.  That got me thinking that maybe
>Dmitri was getting past his "best before" date when he wrote this work.

My disseration was a set of variations on that wonderful theme from the
last movement, measures 14 to 35.  I so moved by the rather nostalgic
beauty of it.

To my ears, his 15th quartet is right up there with the late quartets of
Beethoven.

>I shall stick my neck right now and say that IMHO Shostakovich was at his
>best as a symphonist in his middle period works.say in Nos.  5 to 10, and
>that thereafter, although probably still the greatest symphonist of his
>time, his inspiration diminished.

I will agree that I don't care much for the 12th, but 13, 14, and 15 are,
to my ears, magnificent.  I also find the 1st and 4th more to my liking
than the 5th.  The 10th is another highpoint.

>Both Spohr (who withdrew his 10th symphony from performance*) and Sibelius
>(who destroyed his 8th symphony) apparently new when to stop.

While I don't know the story about Spohr, I would guess that booze stopped
Sibelius from an 8th Symphony.

>On the other hand, Mozart Beethoven and Schubert Were lucky (or unlucky)
>enough to die while they were, IMHO, still at the height of their symphonic
>powers.

There are some composers who, late in life, write music that I find less
up to the quality of their earlier works.  While I never heard the entire
Harris 14th, I did hear some of the choral rehearsals.  That was enough for
me.  Yet I find his 11th to be a fine work.  Piston's 7th and 8th are, for
me, works of genius.  I feel Hovhaness said about all he had to say by the
time of his 16th Symphony...yet he kept saying it so beautifully.

>What do other list members think on this subject, or have I just written
>a load of rubbish.

One person's rubbish is another's treasure.

Karl (who continues to frequent thrift stores)