lerdahl's influences include the german classics, sibelius, schoenberg, bartók, stravinsky, carter, messiaen, and ligeti. lerdahl has said he “always sought musical forms of [his] own invention,” and to discover the appropriate form for the intended expression. writing in "fanfare", robert carl noted: "lerdahl is a profoundly musical composer, engaged in all his work in a rigorous and respectful dialogue with tradition, eager to imbue his pieces with the maximum of both information and clarity." of lerdahl's composition "waves", phillip scott wrote, ""waves" is an orchestral scherzo. it conjures up (rather than depicts) the motion and the sense of waves, not merely of the oceanic variety but also those found on graphs: sound waves, heartbeats, and so on. it begins with a surge of activity and never lets up in its cascading scales and rapid figuration. unlike debussy's "la mer", whose deep-sea swells it recalls only fleetingly, it has no moments of repose."