Composer John Wilson–better known to the world as Anthony Burgess, author of “A Clockwork Orange”– suffered an obscurity created by the wrong kind of fame....

There are no rousing tunes or big anthems as in the Sir Andrew or Boublil-Schonberg blockbusters, not even a single ditty you walk out humming or remembering. What has happened to melody in contemporary pop?

"It is high time to stop regarding this work as some kind of feckless outlier in the Bernstein canon..."

Pop culture is now the high culture. The ritual changing of the profile picture on Facebook now constitutes an act of cultural significance on a par with going to Symphony Hall live in a previous era.

It lets you hear the speaking voice of Harpo Marx and the voices of every U.S. President since
Benjamin Harrison. You can watch Stravinsky, Shostakovitch, and Prokofiev speak, perform,
and even compose...