Jocelyn Wang wrote: >I'm not the biggest fan of Hindemith, either, but, yes, he has composed >many works worth performing. We have presented his works a number of >times. I would venture to say that the closed-minded reaction you >described was a case of Hindemith was being found guilty by association-- >not because he composed atonal works (he didn't), but because of when he >lived. He's not the only composer of the past 80 years to have experienced >such reluctance because so many, rightly or wrongly (but understandably), >have had so many unpleasant experiences from atonal works, which are often >associated with being "modern." He can be so dreary. My trumpet playing daughter, 16, brought home a Hindemith piece today in which she is soloist. She does not like the piece at all. "Give it a chance," I suggested. We'll see. I have a soft spot for Hindemith because he wrote the textbook upon which my high school music theory class was based, and I consider that course to have been the most useful one I had in all of high school. I still remember a lot of it all these years on! Mitch Friedfeld