Bernard Chasan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>>It is a source of wonderment to me that Mozart is bashed so much more
>>frequently than any other master.  It is as if the old eighteenth century
>>drawing room cliches are being reinstated, and I have to wonder if the
>>bashers know the operas, or the viola quintets, or the piano concerti.
>>If you don't know these parts of Mozart's output (among many others) you
>>don't know Mozart.

Satoshi Akima replied:

>Yes I do know them, and yes there are wonderful things about them.I must
>admit that his later symphonies are still my favourites.  This still does
>not mean one should EVER stop listening 'critically' to anything.  For by
>critically, I repeat, I do not mean, with superficial disdain, but the
>deepest of humility and love for what one MUST remain critical of.

I have no desire to be critical, particularly since I am not qualified to
be critical.  (" Excuse me, Herr Mozart, but this listener from Boston has
come to give you some composing tips") I do, however, have preferences -
essentially I vote with my ears.  And this enterprise, I find that it is
more sensible to speak of individual works rather than composers because
we listen work by work.  As an example, is Chausson (no relation) a great
composer or a minor composer? I don't know how to answer that question, but
I do consider his Symphony in B minor (?) to be a wonderful piece of music.

Professor Bernard Chasan
Physics Department, Boston University