Deryk Barker wrote:

>I still don't believe the basic argument.  Bernstein's first mahler
>recordings were made before anyone outside Liverpool (and Hamburg) knew
>who the Beatles were.
>
>Any chance of a precis of the argument?

Yes and according to Schiff, the writer of the piece, Bernstein saw that
the Beatles' universal success of "She's Leaving Home" and "Eleanor Rigby"
showed up the "vast failure" of concert music during that period.  A period
where the public had little use for the second Viennese School or the Great
American symphonies of the 30's and 40's.  Mahler's 3rd, as concert music,
seemed to be the answer to the questions posed by the Beatle songs.

Rich