Tony Duggan replied to me:

>>Whenever I listen to the Adagio I can't help but compare it to the Adagio
>>from Mahler's 9th -- this time when I made the comparison I felt that the
>>Bruckner Adagio was the true source, and the Mahler Adagio was sort of an
>>imitation (Let's see if anyone is reading this -- if so, I expect some
>>`heated rebuttals:-).
>
>Why rebuttals The only observation I would make is that you give
>the impression that you are the first person to have noticed this.

I didn't mean to leave that impression.  It's so easy to hear the
similarities between the two Adagios (especially the opening notes)
that I figure it must be a pretty common observation.  In fact, I think
I read somewhere of similarity.  The rebuttals I'm expecting are to my
impression that the Bruckner Adagio is "more authentic" than Mahler's.

>I quote from Mahler's paramount biographer, Henry-Louis de La Grange.
>After citing a letter from Mahler about Bruckner's Ninth in which Mahler
>dismisses Bruckner's Symphony as "the height of nonsense", de La Grange
>adds this footnote:
>
>"Mahler's harsh verdict on Bruckner's Ninth is tempered by
>the fact that the Finale of his own Ninth clearly bears the
>mark of the lasting impression that Bruckner's final Adagio
>had made on him."

That's very interesting.  I'm surprised that Mahler judged anything by
Bruckner harshly, especially the Adagio of Bruckner's Ninth.

-Mike