Margaret Mikulska wrote:

>Bernard, thank you for posting more evidence supporting my claim that
>it's the youngest composers who are the most conservative.

Margaret, You are going to have to explain to me in what way my list
of composers support any claim, of conservatism or otherwise.  I probably
need a clear definition of what you mean by conservative.

 From my point of view, the names in my list represent a great variety of
styles trends, which has been both the great force of 20th (and now 21st)
Century music but also its great bane.  In some cases of the composers I
mentioned, there is a move towards a return to a certain form tonality,
or modality, or consonance or beauty (for lack of any clear or better
definition for the movement.) In essence they are trying to reestablish
a contact with a wider audience which they have felt has been lost by the
previous generations of musical creators..  But in the case of others, they
represent the opposite, a march towards a greater complexity, such as those
who are following in the footsteps of Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Finnissy
and others.

Now please explain to me how both extremes can be conservative?

Bernard