Jon Gallant writes:

>Well, the larger forms by almost every great composer, even
>LvB, contain "the galumphing sections, the noodly sections,"
>and so on.  No shock that there are some in RVW too.

Sadly true.  Also in the category of otherwise great RVW pieces marred
by descents into note spinning are Dona Nobis Pacem and Hodie.  And a
work that has always struck me as more note spinning than not is the
suspiciously un-RVW-ish piano concerto -- the worst piano concerto that
Bartok never wrote.  ;-)

However, RVW composed a few works whose *overall* inspiration is so
blazingly high that it seems almost churlish to notice the missteps.
I find little to fault in Job, the Sixth Symphony, or Tallis.  These
works -- in their ambition and in their assured delivery of the "must
have" moments -- outrank efforts like the Oboe Concerto or Dives and
Lazarus, whose more even inspiration is achieved at the price of lesser
scope.

As for perfection, hey, the Serenade to Music ain't chopped liver!  It's
underrated simply because it's so lusciously pretty.

Tom Davey
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New York NY USA