Everything is allowed and this makes the work of the composer, but also of the teacher, difficult. Stravinsky said once that when he began writing, he shuddered to think that everything is allowed. To my students I teach the contemporary techniques to begin with. Then I allow them to write in accordance with their character. I direct them with my opinion on the road which each of them has chosen because the road is prescribed by the character of each of them, and true and legitimate in Art is that which is prescribed by the nature of its creator.
Many colleagues compel their students to write as they do.
This system is criminal. It results in the production of unnecessary epigones. It is an easy system, of course, and flatters the professor. But it has fatal results for the student. The lessons in composition are complemented by the analysis of works which cover the entire spectrum of western music from the Middle Ages to our time.