Influence

Influence

One criterion used to distinguish works of the classical musical canon is that of cultural durability. However, this is not a distinguishing mark of all classical music: while works by J. S. Bach continue to be widely performed and highly regarded, music by many of Bach's contemporaries is deemed mediocre and is rarely performed, even though it is squarely in the "classical" realm. To some extent, the notion of such durability is a self-fulfilling prophecy (and therefore a fallacy), simply because classical music is studied and preserved at much higher levels than other music