PERIODICALS
ARTS & LETTERS
introduced many new works Stravinsky, Debussy, and Ravel.
Most conductors included no works from the past in their musical programs. Felix Mendelssohn's controversial 1829 revival of Bach's St. Matthew Passion was a turning point. Gradually, older works came to dominate conductors' repertoires, and became "classics."
In Europe and America, composers themselves contributed to the change, Henahan concedes, by turning increasingly after World War I t...