Stirling Newberry on a list of American composers:

>>I would trade that entire list for keeping Ellington, Armstrong, Goodman,
>>Gershwin, Coltrane, Davis and Mingus.  And I don't think I am alone in
>>believing that American accomplishments in jazz out shadow American
>>"classical" accomplishments during the period by a wide margin.

And Steve Schwartz replies:

>I do think jazz contributions remarkable, but fundamentally different from
>American classical music.  I also believe that none of the composers I
>mentioned have anything to be ashamed of or are somehow "second-best,"
>mostly because I don't really see the communal point in publishing what
>remains a private ranking.

I think that it has become fashionable to dismiss American classical
composers, and extoll jazz and, sometimes show music as well, as the
"real" American music.  Steve is right- classical music is "fundamentally
different", from the others, but is vulnerable only because it is not
terribly popular.  That's life.  A lot of excellent visual art and poetry
is likewise not widely known, but it is there to be enjoyed by those who
cultivate it.  However it is important to realize that the group of
composers mentioned initially by Steve is united only by chronology,
really.  Sessions, and Shapero are, in my mind, unique and particularly
distinguished.  Anyone on this list who has not listened to Shapero's
Symphony for Classical Orchestra should do so as soon as convenient.

Professor Bernard Chasan
Physics Department, Boston University