Roman Turovsky at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Handel could send his librettist packin', and write for oboe instead. I > don't think Elton could ever write for oboe.
It's not so hard to write for oboe. Handel might indeed have sent his librettist packing when he was an impresario in London. He could not have done it when he composed the music for La Rizurrezzione in 1708. Nor could Monteverdi have simply sent Rinuccini packing. But all this is beside the point. Roman made a blanket assertion--about acrimonious breakups being impossible in classical music because the composition of classical music is a one-person endeavor. The statement ignores all the history of collaborative endeavors, and if, as about 35 posts from Roman in the last few hours assert, the collaboration is an unequal one, it is no less collaborative for that.
