Lugubrious is the word that comes to my mind.  I find the work nearly
unbearable--close to excruciating even--but it does have sort of a
morbid fascination for me when I do hear it.  Catherine Comet gave it
a mercifully brisk reading with the Milwaukee Symphony a few years
ago.  Rumor has it that she didn't really want to conduct it but the
Music Director "made her do it."

Jim Tobin