It's fascinating how easily one can get a thread going by the mere mention of the topic "repeats". Being of the "what works musically here and now" (vs. "thall shalt not ever goes against the composer's original intention"[whatever that was])school of thought, I think that the role of recorded music and the generally increased access to music we have in this century should not be underestimated. This certainly enters into the equation if one subscribes to the theory that the exposition repeat was included primarily to allow the educated listener to assimilate the main themes prior to hearing their development. Recordings (which composers pre 20th century had probably never dreamed of) change the equation - pure and simple. Who can say that Mozart ever intended for us to listen to his symphonies in our homes? Personally, I prefer no exposition repeats on recordings of post-Beethoven symphonic literature but yes to repeats in live performances. Unfortunately, current trends seem to run in the opposite direction. Question - Why don't CDs contain more liberal use of index markings which would enable the listener to program their players to give them the choice of hearing it either way? Gary Evoniuk Durham, NC