Music with ‘heart’

MY mouth fell open when, in the article “ ‘New World’ Order for Philharmonic” (Sept. 6), I read Chris Pasles make the astounding statement that Samuel Barber’s “musical gifts may have been limited,” but they included an uncanny ability to set the natural rhythms of English prose.” That this composer’s musical gifts were “limited” is big news for millions of music lovers!

Barber was nothing short of brilliant, and his music is already outliving most of the ugly, pseudo-intellectual claptrap that many of his contemporaries insisted was modern. Ah, but I forget -- Barber’s music displays genuine heart, which drops him down several notches in the jaundiced eyes of the hipper-than-thou critical types.

Rob Meurer

Studio City