Which composers of any period would you invite to dinner and why?

[MrGongGong]

I'd have loved to have spent an evening discussing with Jonathan Harvey how apparently he managed to square Christianity with Buddhism, as to my understanding they are predicated on entirely different assumptions.

Maybe he's found the answer now

I don't think he remained a Christian .......... ?

[vinteuil]

I'd have loved to have spent an evening discussing with Jonathan Harvey how apparently he managed to square Christianity with Buddhism, as to my understanding they are predicated on entirely different assumptions.

Maybe he's found the answer now

I remember him saying (this would have been in 1993 or 1994, I think) that at one level he would love to be a Christian - if only Christianity were true - because he loved so much that the Christian tradition had produced - in music, in art. But that frankly it was impossible to be a Christian.

He was one of the nicest people to be with.

[MrGongGong]

I remember him saying (this would have been in 1993 or 1994, I think) that at one level he would love to be a Christian - if only Christianity were true - because he loved so much that the Christian tradition had produced - in music, in art. But that frankly it was impossible to be a Christian.

He was one of the nicest people to be with.

Indeed
on the few occasions that I met him he was a tremendous inspiration
one of my greatest regrets is that I never managed to go and do a Phd with him

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I know someone who DID go to dinner with Boulez , and showed me in precise detail HOW he held his knife and fork

I wondered whether he cut everything up into precise squares before eating ............?

I didn't quite manage that, but I did once go to dinner with Thomas Pitfield, and discovered that he was a vegetarian.

[Flosshilde]

Wagner has put in an appearance, & I'd definitely have him (Richard, of course). Not sure who else - Meyerbeer perhaps?

I wouldn't have Cosima, although it would be interesting to hear R's views on how she managed Beyreuth after his death.