Roger Hecht writing on Elgar's Third Symphony:

>But the greatest irony of all is their looking back and
>reaching into the grave of a composer long considered superannuated for
>what may be the best "new" piece in decades.

I agree that the music is wonderful, But the composer of two (now 3)
great symphonies, Falstaff, Enigma Variations, the Cello and Violin
Concertos, and the Sea Pictures orchestral song cycle never should have
been considered to be "superannuated" whatever that word means in this
context.  And why all this "reaching into the grave" rhetoric? Why does
this unlovely and uncalled for expression apply to Elgar more than any
other deceased composer or artist or writer we appreciate?

Professor Bernard Chasan
Physics Department, Boston University