Steven Schwartz:

>[Composers] have all learned this very sad truth: ...there is also
>no piece of music so good that somebody *must* perform it.

Especially a second time.  Second performances are even harder to come by
than premieres.  There are surely more good works (let's just accept this
quality benchmark for the sake of argument, OK?) available for performance
than there are available schedule slots in the schedules of any performance
group, even over a multi-year cycle.  Conceivably there are more worthwhile
works than performance slots of ALL capable performance groups for quite an
extended period of time.  (Not even to mention musical fashion and musical
politics considerations.) Thus, at a minimum: Many (I would say most)
worthwhile works are not going to get played regularly by any given
performers.  Some worthwhile works are NEVER going to get played by various
groups one could name.  And some worthwhile works are never going to get
heard live in any place that one happens to live or even visit.

Consequently, if good works are going to be accessible by anyone who might
appreciate them, or if it is important that the community of listeners
have an opportunity to try to separate the good, better or best from the
schlock, the trash and the mediocre, then composers and their supporters
need to hope for broadcasts and, especially, recordings, even more than
for second performances.

Fortunately, the age of abundance of musical production happens to coincide
with the electronic age, so that, with the help of reviews, word of mouth,
and the Net, all of us here have been able to hear about, and to hear, a
lot of music that is to our taste even when we represent the minuscule
minority that we often are.  So, for instance, I can hear Rabushka's Harp
Concerto every day in my car, if I want, whether or not he ever gets famous
or lucky enough for me to hear it live.  So also, I've been able to hear
Shapero's symphony annually, at least, for decades, even though it went
decades without a live performance, to give another example of a work that
I never tire of recommending.  And then there are all the works that I am
simply glad to hear on occasion, for the sake of abundant diversity.  Given
a recording, there is hope for even the most obscure or forgotten work.
Sure, you could say, given a score..., instead, but lets get real.  Given
the state of musical literacy, recordings are a lot more accessible than
scores.

Fortunately, also, there have been enough performers (and recording
companies) over the years interested in enough works that there are a
vast number available now--even if not currently available for purchase.
If abundance and diversity is important to the musical community or a
portion of it, then it is important to focus hopes, encouragement,
publicity and other support in the right directions at the right times.

If enough of this happens, fewer good composers will be too discouraged
to keep going.  (I just read that even Brahms was discouraged enough by
the public response to his violin concerto to destroy the manuscript of
a second one.) More power to the hopeful and inextinguishable ones.

Jim Tobin