Orchestral work stoppages tend to run on similar themes, and the St. Louis clash is no exception, bearing more than a passing resemblance to the Houston Symphony’s 4-week strike of two years ago. Both conflicts revolved around a clash of business values and artistic quality, and focused on “ongoing deficit spending, the question of a relatively low endowment fund – although St. Louis’ was a lot worse than Houston’s – and the question of summer work.” In the end, Houston settled its strike, but lost 14 of its best musicians to more stable orchestras.