Aaron J. Rabushka muddies the waters:

>Actually I would nominate Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra as a strong
>contender for "the Great American Symphony" since it is a symphony in
>everything but name (as is the composer's "Music for Strings, Percussion,
>and Celeste").

Assigning country ownership to a composition is a vexed question I've
raised before.  I don't remember or indeed, if I ever knew, whether Bartok
took out US citizenship.  Of course, he wrote the Concerto for Orchestra in
the US but even if he was by that time a US citizen, does that make it an
American composition?  It's an area of considerable greyness (or grayness!)

Richard Pennycuick
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