Originally posted by Bryn
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I have a confession to make here, tentatively, as we are in the weird world of the internet where it is best to give nothing away. We share a surname. Neither of us is from the North of England although by rights we should be, Julius was pretty good and he wasn't either. Nothing of this has anything to do with it anyway. The normal comparisons are with McPhee and Hovhaness. I'm sorry. Much, not good, could be said about McPhee in all kinds of ways. Musically he was a dabbler. Hovhaness had his moments. Some good moments if rarely great. His output was substantial so he would have been spot on some of the time. The more direct comparison, albeit mainly earlier, is surely with Cowell. Cowell's also "dropped".
I didn't know it was Lou's anniversary. Where, then, were the BBC Proms? I am happy to enter into discussion on comparative merits notwithstanding style re, say, Harris and Riegger or Rochberg in the sixties, even Bernstein, to Corigliano, Tower and Zwilich but it won't happen because the all round coverage is so slim. Which is sad. It needs sorting so that we know where we stand. I know where I stand. I began as a sceptic actually. But this is the big figure, along with the aforementioned Harris and Cowell. Timeless - and of their time.
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