An examination of the music and newspaper coverage of five contemporary American composers in five major United States cities during the period of January 1, 1982 and December 31, 1986

The complexities of contemporary American music have forced critics to act as educators and mediators between composers and listeners. Artists often find management and stardom, and concert audiences often buy tickets because of favorable reviews. To determine whether coverage of composers in the last five years has been favorable, encouraging, critical, negative or factual, five daily newspapers in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston have been examined. The composers are John Cage, Elliott Carter, Philip Glass, Ned Rorem, and Charles Wuorinen. The examination shows that critics have welcomed the performances of contemporary music, have been fair and objective, and have attempted to educate and inform. But they have not necessarily reflected the opinions of audiences, nor have they set out deliberately to destroy or promote any composer. No evidence was found to indicate the critical reaction had any effect on the composers.