Achim Breiling:

>>Just a stupid question: Why did they do these cuts? To make the work fit
>>to whatever (LP, radio broadcast) or to omit some too difficult passages?

Steve Schwartz responded:

>Sometimes, believe it or not, they think the passages so weak that the
>work as a whole suffers.  They believe they're doing the composer a good
>turn.  In this era of Composer Knows Best, we find such cuts hard to accept
>and the acme of arrogance.

Not so fast.....

Who's "they"?

Read my post, please.  In this instance-as in most- the case is more
complex.

Even if your heart is pure and you are ireffutably on the side of the
angels you might want to take in to account the fact that composers [not
in this instance] have had second thoughts after a piece has been in
circulation for a while, or from a more practical standpoint, are willing
to sacrifice some parts in the hope of gaining greater suceess for the
whole

Joel Lazar
Conductor, Bethesda MD
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