I have decided on the following format for these articles: Each will contain a “main list” of seven or eight works by composers who, while not exactly obscure, are not any of the “obvious” ones. Nothing by Bach or Beethoven, Mozart or Haydn, Brahms or Wagner will appear in the main lists. I shall, however, subjoin to them recommendations of either three or two recordings of better known pieces that I consider especially impressive.
I have never reconciled my ears or my heart to the brittleness, shrillness, thinness, and iciness of digital sound, but it would be pointless to recommend LPs. There has been a blessed rediscovery of analogue sound in recent years by young listeners, and God bless them for their perceptiveness; but, alas, few classical recordings are released on vinyl these days. So all my recommendations will be of recordings available on CD or (shudder) as mp3 downloads.
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