LET IGOR BE IGOR

Wynton Marsalis’ comment “I could do that” comment, overheard backstage during a performance of Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale,” is quite telling (“The Rites of Swing,” by Justin Davidson, May 3). This could be an appropriate response from a composition student in music conservatory; however, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer might be more concerned with creating what he or she hears, rather than re-creating a master innovator’s personal vision.

Am I alone in believing that a true composer, certainly one who has been appointed an arbiter of good taste and a leading light in American music, should have more internal resources and less external concern for “updating” the genius of, say, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and now Stravinsky?

JOAN SAPIRO

Studio City