He is a tremendous musician, but how can he fit with the likes of Bach or Stravinsky? These are just two while the genius of European classical music is large.

He is a tremendous musician, but how can he fit with the likes of Bach or Stravinsky? These are just two while the genius of European classical music is large. Williams may be the greatest popular culture composer of all time but how can we say he has the intellectual fervor or a wide enough palette of musical command that the greats displayed? There were classical musicians in history who were relegated to the "inferior" realm of being populists (Satie) simply because they favored accessibility and simple enjoyment over intellectual concerns. I think there is a degree of sophistication in the greats not present in Williams that separates him as a populist which philosophically may be in conflict with the aspirations of "fine art", "art for the sake of art", or evolving an entire traditional canon forward. In this sense, Williams is not so much a participant in it, as he is somebody who decided to focus on something else in his day and age, the cinema. I am not arguing this is aesthetically justified, but I cannot imagine Williams creating piano solos like Prokofiev or challenging an entire historical conception of music a la Schoenberg, etc. I may be ignorant because I have only listened to Williams' music from movies. Just because I have not seen fine art pieces from him does not mean they do not exist. It is also possible Williams' will be slowly brought into the classical realm in future generations as composers reach their greatness in the eyes of society after they've perished.