Richard Pennycuick wrote:

>The 3rd has had little mention in this thread.  I like it well enough,
>but it still seems to be in the situation of an adopted child trying
>to fit into a well-established family.

The Third Symphony will never be fully canonical just as the completed
Mahler 10th will never be fully canonical.  That said, the Third is a
fine work taken on its own terms.  It is leaner and more modern than
the two others, appropriate to a work from the thirties.

I recently tuned in to what was clearly an Elgar symphony but one I
did not recognize.  It turned out to be the Third Symphony, after being
altered by the conductor, Leonard Slatkin.  The ill advised alterations
made it sound more like the other two.  It was very much NOT an improvement.

Bernard Chasan