Donald Satz <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>I always enjoy it when Bob dons his "Avenger" hat.  I really have no idea
>why Stephen would ascribe "indelible" characteristics to Mozart and
>Beethoven, but not Haydn.  He might answer that one.

Let me explain what I mean by "indelible" and why I don't think Haydn, as
great a composer as he is, lacks indelible characteristics.

Haydn wrote 104 symphonies, a large opus of trios, quartets, and sonatas,
13 Masses, etc.  Of the melieu, there's no one piece that I usually
recognize instantly as "Haydn's 56th," or "Haydn's Trio in C," The opus is
just too large, and none of it is so impressive in and of itself to compare
with Bach's B minor Mass, Beethoven's Fifth or Ninth, his piano concertos,
Brahm's Symphony 4, etc.

This doesn't make Haydn any less significant or enjoyable, but it's rare
I hear myself or others hum an indelible Haydn melody.  No one work of
Haydn's stands out heads above all others, but the whole ourvre is world
class.

Stephen Heersink
San Francisco
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