Mark Seeley writes:

>The 4th!!!  I listened to the Brahms 4th and the Bruckner 4th
>"Romantic."And in those two symphonies, Brahms & Brucker seemed very
>close thogether...

Something to that.  I was listening to Brahms's Fourth just yesterday,
and Bruckner's Fourth earlier in the week.  Looking back on it, there
does seem to me to exist a relationship in color, in feel.  The Brahms
was the Celibidache 1974 version (remastered 1999) with Suedwestfunk
Radio Symphony; the Bruckner, Jochum's 1967 performance with the BPO--two
recordings that I find myself playing again and again.  Funny, though:
personally I consider Brahms 4 the greatest of his symphonies, while
Bruckner's 4 strikes me as one of his less attractive compositions.
Anyway, making a big deal of relating to Wagner both of these great
composers--and great they are in their own right-- as has been a critical
habit for decades, by now should impresses and interest less than relating
the two of them to each other.  I think Mark Seeley is on to something.

Denis Fodor                     Internet:[log in to unmask]