Larry Sherwood wrote: >It seems to me that the article overlooked a classic- and well known- >retort by Brahms. I've heard that a review of Brahms' First Symphony >contained the criticism that the work owed rather much to Beethoven. >Brahms reportedly replied, with understandable irritation, "Well any >fool could see that". Ah, but the Slate article was about Brahms's mastery of the *subtle* putdown. The above remark was about as subtle as, well, the Brahms First Symphony's debt to Beethoven. Glad you liked the article, though. Mitch Friedfeld