Aaron J. Rabushka: >Steve Schwartz wrote: > >>...the symphony - a genre many Europeans considered dead by that time >>(note that Bartok never wrote one) > >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"). I agree, but I think that the fact that Bartok did not want to call these works symphonies supports Steve's point, which was that many people had a certain opinion, not that no symphonies were being written, or even that it was a well-founded opinion. Jim Tobin