marcus Maroney <[log in to unmask]> (et al!!) asks me what it is that
I find so irritating about the opening of the Janacek Sinfonietta.

Well try these:  raucous, whingeing/whining, repetitive, grating and lacks
originality (in the sense that it is the kind of cliche'd musical sounds
one might hear from a child shrieking out in the playground).  The more
often I hear it the less I ever want to do so again.

I can see a few virtues too but majestic is certainly not one of them!
Anyway it irritates me greatly.  I have no problem with Janacek.  I've seen
nearly all the operas and enjoyed them greatly (even House of the Dead!)
although I would venture that, like Britten, they are better by far in the
theatre rather than as a domestic listening experience.

But I didn't think I was seeking agreement, disagreement or retribution!
I asked what other openings had a similar effect on people!? It seems not
many.

And here's one that seems to me rotten right the way through - Ronald
Binge's "Sailing by" - I imagine it as a piece played in purgatory - a
short loop of tape turning endlessly until you scream for release and the
men in white coats come to carry you away!  BBC Radio 4 used to (still do?)
end their daily transmission with this - probably to ensure that people
turned their radios off before falling asleep!  We never let it get that
far.  I have a problem with Bartok too.

John G. Deacon
Home page: www.ctv.es/USERS/j.deacon