Peter Goldstein:

>I'm interested in people's views on taking repeats, particularly in the
>works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and their contemporaries. ...
>
>What should be the criteria? What is the value of repeats?

We had an incredibly wonderful fight over this some time ago.  The
positions are, essentially,

1.  The composer knows best.

2.  The composer may or may not know best.  Let's see how this particular
performance works out.

3.  The composer may or may not know best.  However it's not ethical to
change what a composer wrote.  Let composers fail or succeed on their own.

Pick one.

Steve Schwartz

 [Steve forgot number:

 4.  Who cares what the composer wanted.  I have the attention span of
 a gnat and don't want to hear those useless repeats.  Once through was
 plenty.

 - Dave]