Nathan Lofton argues:

>> 1.  Have a lasting influence on the course of music.
>
>Stravinsky.

I don't think so.  You don't find a large Stravinskian influence after
World War II.  This doesn't mean that the output is terrible, but it
does indicate that composers, however admiring they may be, don't really
steal from him.

>> 2.  Be proficient in all genres of his day.
>
>Certainly.  Composed (just off the top of my head) symphonys, ballets,
>operas, oratorios, liturgical works, concertos, choral works, vocal
>works, sonatas, chamber music, works for unaccompanied instruments,
>and even works for wind band and jazz band.  Beat that, Tchaikovsky.

By the way, I didn't propose Tchaikovsky.  I proposed Machaut.  Furthermore,
he's not equally strong in all genres.

>> 3.  Show a wide expressive range.
>
>I think so.

As do I.

>> 4.  A consistency of result.  Not everything must be wonderful,
>> but a preponderance should.
>
>It all sounds like Stravinsky.  Even the really early stuff (Symphony
>in Eb) and late stuff (Aldous Huxley Variations)

I agree.  I think of his music as consistently high quality (with only
a dud here and there) -- the early piano sonata, the Faun and the
Shepherdess, Movements don't do much for me.

>> Stravinsky - weak chamber output.  His influence has waned.
>
>Weak chamber output?  What about Soldiers Tale?  Octet?  It wasn't the
>area of his largest output, but I think it is more than made up for by
>the amount of music he wrote in other genres.

I must have been dozing when I wrote that one.  I can think of a lot of
great chamber music by Stravinsky.

>As for his influence: go to any college level composition program and
>ask the students (and faculty) who their biggest influences are.  The
>names you will likely hear most will be Ligeti, Bartok, and Stravinsky.

Stravinsky perhaps as an artistic example, but not Stravinsky's music.
I know of very few composers today in which his music's influence can
be heard.

>Furthermore, you'd have a difficult time finding a serious classical
>musician who can't tell you the exact day and time that they first heard
>The Rite of Spring.  By the criteria presented, I think Stravinsky wins.

Yeah, well, I can tell you not only that, but where and when I first
heard the Verdi Requiem, Bach's Magnificat, Schoenberg's Friede auf
Erden, Beethoven's Fifth, Copland's Appalachian Spring, etc.  etc.
I doubt any of these composers influenced my work, however much I may
admire them.  I think you've got to distinguish between admiration and
influence.

Steve Schwartz