At this point, I wish to make it clear that I've got nothing against the RC
-- or perhaps it would be more accurate to say the Classical Top Fifty --
in the sense that it simply describes a body of work which has been seen by
a number of generations as central to Western European music.  For those of
you who want examples (and to show that I'm not handwaving), I'd offer the
following:

Bach: Goldberg Variations; WTC, I & II; Magnificat, Mass in b
Handel: Messiah
Haydn: Last 8 symphonies, string quartets, Creation, Sinfonia Concertante
Mozart: Last 5 symphonies, the string quintets, the "Dissonant" quartet,
the piano quartets, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Zauberfloete, Requiem,
last 8 piano concerti, Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Beethoven: Symphonies 1, 3, 4-9, "named" piano sonatas + last six piano
sonatas, violin concerto, piano concerti 1, 3-5, Missa Solemnis, late string
quartets, "Kreutzer" violin sonata
Schumann: 4 symphonies, piano concerto
Mendelssohn: Elijah, Symphonies 3 & 4, Violin Concerto, MSND Overture
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Requiem
Schubert: Symphonies 8 & 9, Winterreise, Schwanengesang, Schoene Muellerin
Brahms: 4 symphonies, two piano concerti, double concerto, violin concerto,
chamber works with piano and strings, Liebeslieder Waltzes, German Requiem
Mahler: Currently, everything
Debussy: Children's Corner, La Mer, possibly the Nocturnes and the Images
for Orchestra
Wagner: Every opera from Tannhaueser on, plus the Siegfried Idyl
Stravinsky: Firebird, Petrushka, Le Sacre du printemps
Shostakovich: Symphonies 10, 13, String Quartet 8, Cello Concerto No. 2
Copland: Appalachian Spring, Fanfare for the Common Man, Rodeo
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, Violin Concerto No. 2, Piano Concerto No. 3
and so on

Obviously, I could put in much more, but I doubt many would seriously
disagree with including at least the composers on such a list.  Some
very fine composers (even great ones), from all periods, are missing.  No
Ockeghem, Josquin, Monteverdi, Byrd, Weelkes, Purcell, Vaughan Williams,
Elgar, Britten, Prokofiev, and so on.  Let's ignore the hot buttons of
Schoenberg, Hindemith, Berg, Webern, Carter, and Boulez for the moment.

What's wrong with ignoring the composers on this list might be better
understood if we asked the question what's wrong with reading only books
written after 1972.  If you read simply for the enjoyment of the moment,
absolutely nothing.  If you want to understand the traditions of Western
literature, quite a bit.  If you haven't grappled with Aristotle's Poetics
and its Roman cribs or haven't read Homer and the Greek tragedians, there's
a huge gap in your understanding.  I've always said that art is a pleasure
rather than a duty, but I add that coming to a deeper, more complete
understanding is also a pleasure.  Furthermore, you cut yourself off from
a great source of pleasure.  I'm so glad I stuck out years of boredom with
Brahms.  Eventually a light clicked, and immediately a huge body of new
work opened to me.  I also add that encounters in chronological order seem
to me less important than encounters at some time and, even better, many
times.  Chronology is easy to accomodate no matter when you've actually
encountered works.  You're not going to throw out Petrushka, after all,
simply because you haven't yet heard Mozart's "Turkish" violin concerto
(no. 5).  I would also contend that pleasure is more likely to hook you
than duty, so begin with what pleases you, whatever that may be.

What's wrong with sticking to only composers on this list and only on this
list is what's wrong with reading only Genuine, Certified Masterpieces.
It easily leads one to a priori judgments on individual works; in other
words, it becomes a substitute for individual thought.  "I don't recognize
the name, therefore the piece can't be any good" or "This is Schoenberg,
therefore it sucks." Again, there's a gap in one's understanding and a
cutting off of a possible source of pleasure.  It also leads to people
futilely wishing for the Good Old Days when composers sought The True
Beauty (meaning, of course, music people are long familiar with and like).

Steve Schwartz