Chris Kim:

>...  Stating that Higdon "represents a conservative turn in composing
>styles," Stearns concludes that the Concerto for Orchestra "isn't nearly
>radical enough to escape the devil's advocate question that will face this
>piece: 'Could it have been written 50 years ago?

I have taken the point of view that musical styles belong to their time-
so a "perfect " Mozart sonata, written today, would be a replica - no more.
But the devil's advocate question put forth by Stearns is a bit different.
If indeed this work is a replica of the Bartok and Lutaslowksi (sp)
Concerti for Orchestra, that is one thing.  If it simply uses technical
means available then, that is another.  In fact, I would be interested
to know exactly what new resources and or techniques are available to
composers now, which were not available 50 years ago.  One such is
electronic music - what else is there?

Bernard Chasan