I've been listening today to Britten's Sinfonietta, op. 1, written when the composer was 18 or 19. Of course, Britten had written other non-opused pieces previously, but nevertheless it shows a real virtuosity of both form and orchestration, despite its obvious debts to Mahler, Schoenberg, and Stravinsky. I began to think of other op. 1s, particularly Nielsen's Little Suite for Strings, a delightful work which shows Nielsen's mastery of string writing from apparently the get-go. I propose a thread of really good op. 1s. Talk about your favorites! Steve Schwartz