Steven Schwartz wrote:

>I just finished reading a review of symphonies by Fibich
>(contemporary with Janacek, but died around 1900), written by Wilfrid
>Mellers on www.mvdaily.com.  Folks, we don't even show up on the radar.

To wit Chris Bonds replies:

>Just read the comment about Fibich's symphonies from S.  Schwartz.  Raises
>the question: what is the difference in payoff between listening to (and
>buying) Fibich's symphonies, and another listen to Schubert, or Mozart, or
>Beethoven, or Stravinsky, or even Ives or Carter?

Well, I for one have yet to read the review to which Steve refers, but, I
did buy the new Naxos cd of the Fibich symphonies just the other day and
have played the foil off the darned thing.

In response to Chris's comment, I would add this:

When I was in college, I had a professor tell me that one should try a food
dish that one had never tasted before at least once a week.  One needn't
like it, but one should expand one's horizons.  I believe that the same
should be said of music.  There is so much out there and available these
days that to stick solely to the war horses is like passing up a free dish
of ice cream.  It may not all be Ben and Jerry's, but ice cream is good,
period!

I know that since the advent of the cd, I have "discovered" some composers
whose music was little known in the lp era, and they have become some of my
favorites.  Here are some examples:

   Hugo Alfven
   Enrico Bossi
   Carlo Bezozzi
   Alvin Curran
   William Alwyn

All of whose music I have enjoyed greatly.  I haven't quit appreciating
Scubert or Beethoven, but goodness, I do appreciate those exotic flavors
too.

Kevin Sutton