David Stewart writes:

>This brings up an interesting point.  I have always wondered how someone
>with no musical knowledge or 'education' can listen to a large structure
>of say the first movement of Brahms first piano concerto (24 minutes or
>something?) or the first movement of Mahler 3 without getting completely
>lost.

The fact of the matter is that this music was written primarliy for
LISTENERS!!!  I doubt that either Brahms or Mahler conceived of their
audiences as experts, although they no doubt conceived of them as
cultivated and receptive.  Public performances of classical music are
after all, not scholarly colloquia.

I certainly agree that one hearing does not generally reveal all, but it
does reveal much.  The thrust of Mahler's Third Symphony is hard to miss -
Brahms is rather more of a challenge.  A great advantage of recorded music
is that it allows repeated listenings.

B Chasan