Deryk Barker bemoans a reality of the postmodern world, saying: >My problem with Glass, well problems I suppose, are firstly his >ultimately uninteristing compositional method and secondly the fact that >his popularity overshadows other (IMHO) better "minimalist" composers, >such as Riley and Reich. Agreed -- but the reason for this is the same reason Jeffrey Archer's books sold better than -- well, mine, for instance -- good marketing. Adams and Glass seem to dominate the soi-disant minimalist genre at the moment, because their PR machines and promotional managers have had greater energy/success/luck than those of Riley or Reich. In California I attended the West Coast premiere of Glass's Fifth Symphony and a major staging of Reich's The Cave. Of the two I infinitely preferred the latter -- so did my chum who had staged both events. However, the 'hype' surrounding the former was the result of Corporate America (in this case) working the crowd. I think the same applied to music in the much earlier days of patronage and aristocractic support -- those who had a good lobbyist got the gravy! Tim 'Confused Metaphors 'R Us' Mahon [log in to unmask]