Steve Schwartz wrote:

>...the symphony - a genre many Europeans considered dead by that time
>(note that Bartok never wrote one)

But Schoenberg wrote two wonderful chamber symphonies (yes, that
Schoenberg) and Stravinsky got into the game, even if you don't count
Symphony of the Psalms. But I suppose that the "real"  symphonists
(Nielsen, Sibelius, Shostakovich, Vaughn Williams, Elgar, Holmboe,
and others I have forgotten or don't know about) are considered to be
relatively conservative- an opinion which is not relevant to the quality
of the work they turned out.  But why precisely was the symphony considered
dead by anybody? Various authorities also have declared the novel to be
dead at various times. It lives.  Incidentally I tend to think of novels
and symphonies as somehow similar - consistent perhaps, with ideas
expressed by Bill Pirkle .  Finally, I would add to Steve's list of
American symphonies, particularly such works conducted by Bernstein,
HaroldShapero's Symphony for Classical Orchestra.

Professor Bernard Chasan
Physics Department, Boston University