There's a real, if not earth shattering, dilemma here. And it's not the musical one. In its posted version my quest to identify this particular piece of music was the impetus for this entire column. But as I wrote I realized that it didn't really merit an entire column. Things took a different turn, and the music itself took a back seat. But it's not only a question of why what I originally viewed as the centerpiece became almost tangential. That I can explain. The question has become how I view the conceptual focus of this column - the importance of the path rather than the arriving. If I'm really faithful to that focus, then to a certain extent actually posting the name of the piece is acquiescing to an approach that I'm criticizing. If someone is really interested he or she can start out on his or her own quest.

Coming to my aid on this particular issue is the assumption that even those who read the Boidem read only the main page. That may not be what I have in mind when I post a column, but I wouldn't be surprised if few (of the already few) readers actually click into all of the internal links. And that being the case, I can permit myself to nest the name of the piece here, and feel rather confident that I haven't denied anyone the adventure of finding it by him or herself.