Klarinet Archive - Posting 000198.txt from 2004/05

From: Allen Levin <alevin@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Rossini Variations
Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 14:12:00 -0400

I'll explain it this way (in the present tense, only, to save words):

Both have considerable natural talent.

Both have the ability to turn out great quantities of music on demand.

All of their music sounds like all of the rest of their music. There never
seems to be much genuinely new material.

Most of their music sounds "made to order" from a list of formulae.

All of their best music is of short duration, the themes are mostly
self-contained and not susceptible of intellectually challenging
development. (Ironically, Rossini is best known for a small part of one
overture, when he hoped to be remembered for the rest of that
opera. Williams is best known for the theme from Star Wars. He has
written some things that attempt to have more development: but they fall short.

To mangle a metaphor, their music is not found in the wading pool; but it
is definitely found in the shallow end of the swimming pool.

Allen, I've puzzled about this comment for a couple of days. Did you
>mean more than just that both of them wrote for 'musical theater' (I
>include film as a type of 'musical theater') in addition to other forms
>of music?
>
>
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