Janos Gereben wrote:

>The privilege of hearing the Shostakovich work tonight in Davies Hall
>(in a rich program also including the Suite No. 1 for Jazz Orchestra
>and the Violin Concerto No. 2), conducted by Rostropovich, was both
>enhanced and disturbed by memories of 44 years ago when "fears were dying
>out" slowly in Russia and the Soviet empire, even as the artists saw
>"new fears dawning."

And speaking of Shostakovich...last night I was transferring to CD the
Koussevitzky performance of the Shostakovich 1st.  The announcer talked
about how this work by a 19 year old took the world by storm and that
with the composer in his 34th year, the world looked forward to every
new work to flow from the pen of this master...

I was reminded of the time when we would also look forward to the next
Copland or Schuman work.  A new Symphony by Vaughan Williams would be a
great event. How we longed for, but never got that Third Symphony from
Walton...

Is there any composer today who, at the age of 40 or so, is considered
a master, with each new work of his or hers being eagerly awaited by the
concert going public?

Karl