Alec Ross, writing in the New Yorker,(December 20) contributes a long
evaluation and appreciation of Richard Strauss whom he designates as
composer of the century(for better or worse).  It is an excellent article
and covers a remarkable amount of material.  And inevitably it deals with
an issue which is never far from the surface in any discussion of twentieth
century music: the role of modernism and progress in judging new music.
On these criteria Strauss has no standing, not at least since Salome and
Electra.  Stravinsky and Schoenberg had no use for him.  As a composer
Ross characterizes Strauss as messy, and his complex relationship with the
Nazis is an extramusical addition to messiness.  Yet, discussing Daphne,
Metamorhesen, and the Four Last Songs, Ross is of the opinion that these
works should in some sense be irrelevant, but that their stature makes
relevance itself irrelevant.  Read it - it is a wonderful article, and
fascinating in particular for Ross' ambivalence about Strauss - he does
not LIKE the man - ("a grey soul") but he cannot avoid the music.

Professor Bernard Chasan
Physics Department, Boston University