Peter Varley agrees with me that the Berg Violin Concerto is a beautiful
work, then continues:

>...but I wouldntput it anywhere near the top of a list of twentieth-century
>music (what happened to Sibelius, Vaughan Williams and Rachmaninov, amongst
>others?).  Comparing it with other beautiful late-romantic violin
>concertos, I wouldn't put it above the Barber, for example.

They are all great composers.  And the Barber is indeed a beautiful
concerto.

>It seems that Berg earned himself a lot of brownie points from the critics
>by using a process which "is inconducive to producing anything resembling
>beauty" in itself, and despite this managing to produce a beautiful work.

And, more important, a very expressive work.  Incidentally Berg claimed
that the Bach chorale quote in the last movement simply appeared out of
the tone row formalism.Could Berg have produced this great work without
"the process?" Or the Lyric Suite? I have no idea, but I am grateful for
what he did.In music you don't need to make the playoffs.  I should not
have declared the concerto 'the greatest".  There is ample room for Berg
and Sibelius and Barber and all the rest.

I must admit that I still wince a little when I hear that some piece of
music is atonal or twelve tone (we have pretty much run roughshod over the
difference).  But then you listen to the music and it is rewarding, albeit
with some effort.  I have been listening to the Skalkottas Quartets and the
music of Gerhard- particularly the not easy Fourth Symphony.  They need
some repeated listening but I would rather go that route than listen to
stuff that is too easy.  Some on this list may have heard that dreadful
symphony based on monuments in D.C., and promoted by NPR.  It is instantly
accessible, but no thank you.  Incidentally it was only when I bothered to
read the program notes accompanying my Set of Shostakovitch Quartets did I
learn what many on this list probably could have heard:  he used tone rows
in the late quartets.  Scandal!!!!

Professor Bernard Chasan
Physics Department, Boston University