Busch, Schubert and Haddock

Recently, for £11.00 I had a (good) piece of fresh haddock in the local caff. I also, recently, acquired for £5.50 a Regis 3-CD set of Adolf Busch and friends playing Schubert (G major string quartet D.887, 'Death and the Maiden' quartet D.810, E flat piano trio D.929, the Fantasia D.924, and the early, superb B flat quartet D 112). I enjoyed the haddock, but it was soon forgotten. I have had hours of pleasure from the Busch Schubert recordings. Just a little homily on the values our current society places on things.

Franz Schubert is one of “my” composers, along with Purcell, Handel, Bach, Bruckner and Shostakovich; an odd selection of personal preferences. Composers I hold at arm's length include Haydn, Mahler, Bartok and Richard Strauss. Composers I actively avoid include the usual suspects: Schönberg, Berg, Stockhausen, et al.