Christopher Rosevear wrote:

>I am battling with this one.  I was overwhelmed when I first heard his
>first symphony and first cello concerto many years ago, and have since
>heard or played in virtually all his other symphonies.  But only recently
>have I listened to the 4th symphony.
>
>Sadly, I can find little to enthuse about in what I perceive as a cold,
>angular work with mockery, derision, repetition and deliberate triteness
>as its central tenets.
>
>Somebody please persuade me otherwise or hint at what I have been missing.

For me this has always been a frightening work, and a fine one.  I first
heard it in a recording by Ormandy from about the time of the Cuban missile
crisis, and it is likely that association that gives this such a portentous
emotional sound for me.  I also have it by Rostropovich, but Ormandy is
better.

Bill S