Walter Meyer:

>Among the successive lists that I see posted in this poll, I see more and
>more lists w/ fewer and fewer works from the second half of this century.
>I wonder if this has some significance.

It does (although three of the five works I listed for Ian privately are
from after 1950).  Many works from the first half of the century have had
time to become part of the mainstream repertoire.  In the event that some
of us are around in 2050, I anticipate that they (I probably won't be among
them) will note that quite a few works from 1950-1999 will also have moved
into the repertoire.  In the meanwhile, many good works simply are not
known or performed widely.  During the past half-century, there has also
been enormous divergence in the kinds of music being written, and great
contentiousness regarding which styles, let alone which pieces, have been
dominant, performed, or even minimally accepted by many musical people.
Many pieces that some have admired may never be heard again.  Other
presently obscure works may become popular and critically acclaimed.

Jim Tobin