Charles Dalmas wrote:

>Well, I have a couple.  First off, Louis Spohr (or Ludwig, auf Deutsch).
>
>This genius actually compared Beethoven to Cow Manure.  He thought of
>himself as the greatest composer of the early 18th century.

Reminds me of Franz (Anton) Schubert (1768-1827), who, when a publisher
mistakenly returned to him a manuscript of Franz (Peter) Schubert's
*Erlkoenig*, commented that the later had "impertinently sent...[the
publisher] that sort of rubbish...and misused my name."

Walter Meyer