The composers and lyricists spotlighted on each set, taken together, represent the greatest part of the cultural canon known as the Great American Songbook.

Ostensibly, the composer in "Doktor Faustus" represents Germany's moral collapse; but he is also a perversely moralistic figure who finds sincere expression for his hopeless predicament.

Few composers represent the shock of the new as convincingly as Iannis Xenakis, who transmuted the impersonal logic of higher mathematics into sounds of elemental power and daunting ferocity.

As a young man, Stravinsky understandably resisted Wagner, and he detested Richard Strauss and everything that composer represented.

The composer represents a happy collision of German culture, jazz and the Hollywood studios.

In addition, all the composers represented appear to have given more thought than usual to matching words with music.

Ms. Narucki said, "The composers and authors who have been in residence at the MacDowell Colony represent a fascinating history of the sweep and scope of American music and literature."

The resultant synthesis of old and new found a persuasive if idiosyncratic advocate in Malipiero - the only composer of his generation represented in the Settembre Musica festival.

The nine composers represented this year - six men, three women, all in their 20s or 30s - were chosen from among 143 entrants (and thus 143 scores for Mr. Kernis to read).

The composers represented include Beethoven, Cherubini, Dvořák, Rimsky-Korsakov, Sibelius and others.