D Stephen Heerdink writes:

>On the praise and promise of a melodic Varese, I purchased the Chailly
>set.  I actively listened until I could take no more.  "Melodic" is a
>stretch here, and is such only by comparison to Cage, et alia.

Oh No!  This is good stuff and I'm a normal kinda' guy--I usually don't
like *that* kind of 20th Century music.

My rule for 20th Century music is this:  (as I listen for the first time to
Schoenberg's "Moses and Aaron; Boulez conducting), if it's not gonna have
good melodies, then it darn well better be colorful.  And colorful Varese
is.

It's all a matter of expectations.  I would arrive at Varese by driving
through Debussyville, make a rite after passing through Stravinskytown,
make sure you're listening to "Bartalk" on the radio, and kontakte
Stockhausen before passing through the desert.

Seriously, if you "get" the above composers, than you should be ready for
Varese--but not both CDs in one sitting, for goodness sake.

John Smyth (Ameriqua)