Dave Lampson writes:

>A brief discussion took place recently concerning the Brahms' influence,
>in particular on Schoenberg:
>
>The cute, but uninformed, comment that he was the first major composer
>to have no influence belongs in the same category as similarly specious
>comments regarding Vivaldi's contributions, for example.

Ouch!  Luckily I agree.

I would imagine that what Schoenberg admired in Brahms was the former
composers unstinting respect for form and cohesion coupled with a genuine
concern with retaining a measure of communicability--something near and
dear to Schoenberg's heart.

John Smyth