Worn as a "badge of honor", here is an early critical review from 1987 in The New York Times on Floating Falling for cello & timpani which premiered at Merkin Concert Hall. The music's rhythmic drive and minimal approach was a stark contrast to the traditional pieces on the program eliciting a typical response:
"...a trial - its repetitious style and scarcely varied timbres wearing out their welcome about halfway through this relatively brief piece."
A flawless gem... superlative film scores of rare beauty and consummate aesthetic discretion.
Susman's Duo Montuño for piano and clarinet... transparent... 'floating' Impressionist chords ...quietly powerful...
...an atmosphere that amplifies the wonder, beauty and melancholy of the film's story [Fate of the Lhapa] and imagery. .. richly varied in orchestration and mood.
- All Music Guide
William Susman's Uprising (1988)...evokes the implacable horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising...a powerful evocation of planes of sound...and an acute sensitivity to color, which Holzman projected superbly.
...the score [Oil on Ice] reveals considerable sophistication in its composition. ...the sound quality is immaculate -- full and vivid.
- All Music Guide
In his evocative and sometimes programmatic Uprising, William Susman bears witness to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising... [pianist David Holzman] proved a passionate advocate...a Horowitz of modern music.
- Jerry Kuderna, San Francisco Classical Voice.
Angels of Light ...inspired by a Mark Helprin novel... transparent... timeless... exquisite tonal clashes.
-Michael McDonagh, 21st Century Music
...from the Ellington-Strayhorn Songbook... moody, majestic... with smooth, seductive playing... Ellington's 1937 Caravan... which displayed Susman's steady, heavy left hand vamp, ... an entranced audience... applauded vociferously.
Angels of Light ...oscillating ...shimmers with refracted light. ...vivacious colors.
-Scott MacClelland, MetroActive
...[The Harrington String Quartet] gave a vivid impression of the turbulent, watery imagery of William Susman's Streams, a swirling, rich-textured microtonal work.
- Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
William Susman's Six Minutes and Thirty Seconds... sparkling... an essay of spirit and grace...sinuous lines in the French horn and bassoon...
- Mark Alburger, 20th-Century Music
Susman's The Starry Dynamo, ... progressive... sweetly dissonant... the hippest and most arresting music... Plain ol' fun... a music for the 90s clearly enjoyed by players and audience alike.
- Mark Alburger, 20th-Century Music
