Karl Miller replies to Aaron Rabushka:

>I have often wondered about music education in general.  The basic
>study program in music includes two years of harmony, at least a semester
>of counterpoint, forms and analysis, etc.  Yet the bulk of the music
>studied was written over 100 years ago.  From my perspective, much of
>the fundamental structure of the music curriculum reinforces the notion
>of cloning.

It seems to me that most really good composers had an idea of what they
wanted to do before they formally studied.  When Vaughan Williams studied
with Stanford, Stanford felt that his pupil was "too far gone in the modes"
and so assigned him the task of writing waltzes.  This resulted in modal
waltzes.

Steve Schwartz