John Smyth: >It's all so relative isn't it. While wallowing in the sounds of Puccini's >"Ill Trittico," ... it was so heartbreaking to read in the liner notes >that Puccini was very concerned his music might not be modern (artistic) >enough, and that he would only be known as a composer of "popular" music. > >With "Trittico," finished in 1918, after such progressive works such as >Schoenberg's "Erwartung," (1909), Strauss' "Solome" and "Elektra" (1905 >and 1909, and Stravinsky's "Rite," (1913), it's hard not to believe that >Puccini was speaking of himself. Actually, Puccini stole from all those guys. "La Fanciulla," "Schicchi," and "Turandot" are modern works, or at least works that owe a great deal to early Modernism. Steve Schwartz