Good article. One point however that I disagree with

Richard Morrison wrote:

>Leonard Bernstein said Mahler was "the last great composer".  That's a bit
>gloomy, but one knows what he meant.  Mahler lived at the optimum time in
>history for personal traumas to be expressed on massive musical canvases.
>Shortly after he died the advent of cheap mass entertainment destroyed the
>economic basis for music-making on such a scale.  And the rise of a foul
>generation of political dictators gave charisma and rhetoric a bad name.
>The power to inspire millions suddenly seemed, to sensitive composers at
>least, unhealthy and potentially evil.
>
>Many retreated into writing complex little pieces for complex little
>audiences.

This entirely misses the work of Carl Nielson. Last night I pulled out
my venerable copies of SFO's 4th and 5th because I found out that
Bloomstedt is coming back next season to do the "Indistinguishable" with
SFO. I nearly died when I saw that. His 4th is a monumental, violent work.
With out any breaks from beginning to end, to my ear, it bears the heritage of
Wagner. The deadly fight between two oppositely placed tyampani (sp?), with
the horns and the strings trying to wrest control back is something I've
never heard before. Then there is the 5th.

Why does a composers 5th symphony often end up being his most powerful?
Perhaps it was Beethoven who started the trend. Nielson's fifth is a truly
frightening work. This time its the snare drum, which is a abusive enough
sound in itself in an orchestra, but when it keeps on trying to wrest control
(the control theme again) of the orchestra, and then succeeds in a scary
militaristic goose step, which the violins, then the lower strings and
tympani aid with a two note major third that relentless marches forward its
an sound that makes you want to hide. With this march in comes the clarinet
in a hooting, undulating "snake call" which sends shivers along your spine.
I find Nielson a match for Wagner.

Nielson lived a quiet life, so where did the trauma of this music come
from? I wish I knew. Then we have Shostakovitch's fifth, but I've talked
enough.

>By contrast, pop composers had no scruples about wooing millions with
>their music, but rarely developed the techniques to extend their art
>beyond the span of the four-minute song.

One of my favorite complaints.

Dan McLaughlin
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