Last night I listened to Paul Simon’s new album, So Beautiful or So What. Earlier, I had heard an NPR story about five composers taking on a project to write music based on Mozart’s Brandenberg Concertos. It got me thinking about who will be around, considered classical — or at least classic — in another couple hundred years. I think Simon will be one of them.

But I wonder what else will be. I think of music I love and compare it to books I have equally loved and wonder what will have lasting power. Not all art does. How many popular books have been consigned to history? How many books of great literary value are some relic on an old library shelf. Or just gone altogether? What music has been lost to the ages?

I have a list. And there will be many many people who will undoubtedly disagree. Possibly angrily. Indeed, I’m guessing that there are probably countless blog entries on this very topic. But here’s who, aside from Simon (including in his Garfunkle days) I think will have the staying power of a Beethoven or a Satie.

* David Byrne. Whether with the Talking Heads, collaborating with Brazilian pop stars, or on  his own Byrne has a depth to his words and a a musical ability that transcends genre. He’s someone whose music will last.

* Elvis Costello. I’ve only scratched the surface of Costello and love everything I’ve heard. One of my favorite albums, King of America, is completely different from his others — more Hank Williams than The Attractions.

* The Beattles. Well, duh. Here’s the thing about them, though. Will Paul McCartney and John Lennon survive independent of the Beattles? I’d bet yes, but I’m not sure. McCartney isn’t the writer that Lennon was. But Lennon’s solo work was limited by his untimely death. And McCartney has certainly pushed himself professionally. That must count for something.

Here’s where I pull up short. Will the Stones make it to three hundred years from now? What about Sting? He’s done a lot of different kinds of work and has an understanding of music that goes deeper than most. He is ambitious with his lyrics. Will he last? My four guys, U2 — I hate to think of them falling to the sands of time. Or REM. Michael Stipes has a talent that’s meant to last, right? And all of those bands have already lasted decades — The Rolling Stones must be coming up on 50 years together; U2 and REM have more than 30.

Then again, I suppose there was a time when I might have thought that Tears for Fears or Til Tuesday would last forever, but that was just a couple albums in the 1980s.

Why are there no women I can think of to add? What about Joni Mitchell or Carole King? Rickie Lee Jones is arty and clever and amazing. But not prolific. I’m betting she’ll fade into oblivion. Most people under 40 probably have never heard of her. Or Mitchell or King.Where are the women in music through the ages? I know one of the people who wrote for the above-mentioned Brandenberg variations was Melinda Wagner, a female composer active now. But are there any women musicians who will last? And if not, why not?

I’m not even counting other genres of music, like country (Hank Williams, right?), or funk or metal or jazz (Nora Jones? Talented and female, but forever?) or even modern classical, because I don’t listen to those and don’t know what has lasted through some amount of time already.

I wonder: what makes good writing — music or literature — that will last not just decades, but centuries?

I’d love feedback. Who is on your list of the best musicians of now that will be played when your grandchildren are grandparents?