Richard Pennycuick brainstormed:

>This gave me an idea for a thread, i.e. for compositions we would like to
>have been written but which, for whatever reason, weren't.

My first choice would be Brahms' Symphony #00 and Brahms' Symphony #0.  For
then if Brahms had tackled the problem of writing a symphony early on, his
actual Symphony #1 would not be the pretentious effort we now have, and the
classic example of a major composer trying to write music greater than he
felt.

Second choice would be Shostakovich's Symphony #5 if his Symphony #4 had
been hailed as a masterpiece (although I'll take THE #5 without prejudice).

Third, Mahler's Symphonies 5 through 10 (plus Das Lied) if he had not
married Alma Maria Schindler (from the Fifth's opening parody of
Mendelssohn's Wedding March, you knew he was in for it).

John Dalmas
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