Eric James wrote:

>I wasn't aware 1812 was frought with bad tunes.  Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"
>tune has always seemed pretty crude to me, while the similar tune from the
>Choral Fantasia sounds much more elegant.

Kingsley Amis once said Ode To Joy was probably the most _boring_ of all
the great tunes.  I think agree with him.

Great tunes?  The one in the first of the Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances
always does it for me.

Tony Duggan
Staffordshire,
United Kingdom.