Bruce McKinney: >While I love the piano version of the Handel Variations, I think I >almost prefer Rubbra's orchestration. I know it has been criticized >for not sounding like Brahm's "sound", but for me that's a rather stupid >argument. Of course it doesn't "sound" like Brahms - it's by Rubbra. The >solo version (to me) seems almost too much for a solo instrument to deal >with. I think the only way to understand the full measure of the piece >is in the orchestration. I don't know about the last sentence, but I'm glad someone else agrees with me about the Rubbra. I can take the Brahms original until the fugue, which seems to me way too thick in texture and fairly clunky rhythmically besides. But it's the kind of rough stuff only a very great composer could think of and, more important, keep. Steve Schwartz