It's worth noting that Jan Swafford, who wrote the Brahms biography, also wrote a biography on Charles Ives. We may be onto something relevant here, in terms of the dynamic 19th century transitions from classical music to the development of "modern music." Brahms gave his blessings to Dvorak, but apparently couldn't abide Bruckner. I'll listen to Brahms and Dvorak over Bruckner anyday. As for Ives, perhaps the bridge to America was crossed not only by Mahler, but by the beauty of Dvorak's "New World" Symphony. Perhaps Ives amalgamated all of these transitional European composers, Brahms, Dvorak, Bruckner and Dvorak into an entirely new American form of distinct composition, analogous to what the Abstract Expressionists accomplished in the mid-20th century world of painting? Rosemary