Do you recall the story about Daniel Kessner’s final oral exam? Of course he was well-versed in various late-twentieth-century compositional practices, and had a comprehensive knowledge of the key pieces from Penderecki and his ilk.

Someone played a recording and asked him to see if he could identify it. He was a bit puzzled, but in a bit the light went on:

“Isn’t that…a recording of wolves??”

After that there wasn’t much that anyone on the committee could do—the doctorate was assured.