James Zehm wrote:

>Would you like to elaborate a bit on this? Why would Mahler 8. be a
>mistake? I think the symphony is full power and one of Mahlers best.

This seems to be one of those puzzling bones of contention in the field of
music, in which all you can say in the end is, as we Yanks say, "you pays
your money and you takes your choice." The 8th is the only composition of
Mahler's that disappoints me -- it strikes me as a sprawling, disorganized
mess, and I can't figure out how the man who did such brilliant work
otherwise could have produced it.

On the other hand, many staunch Mahlerites complain just as strongly about
the 7th -- they can't figure out how it goes together, how it's organized,
what the point of it is, etc.  -- while I think it is one of the best of
his symphonies and don't seem to have any trouble understanding it.

I guess that all we can say is that Mahler was a very original composer
with a huge talent who (like Beethoven) wrote what he wanted to write,
and the critics could go to the blazes.

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]