Actually, it has been shown that children are by far the most receptive audience for new music. They don't know yet from dreadful, and are usually fascinated by the odd noises. They don't understand harmony yet, just sound and expression, and haven't yet formed opinions/prejudices yet about what they're hearing. I don't know Birtwhistle's music, I must confess, but I see that Gawain is about the story of Gawain and the Green Knight. A friend of mine wrote a successful illustrated children's book on this story. I'm sure he doesn't know there's an opera written about it! I'll have to tell him. Dave Runnion Mallorca