It took me a long time to come to enjoyment of Arnold's music, as it did
for me and Shostakovich.  It sounds odd to say that, at least in Arnold's
case, because he so wants to communicate.  However, it's usually not the
"difficult" composers who put me off, but the "easy" ones.  For me, it's
harder to understand the simple than the difficult.  At any rate, both
composers seemed to me more than a little facile and superficial.  On
the other hand, I kept listening to and acquiring new stuff.  I mentioned
this to an Arnold enthusiast who replied that perhaps the reason I kept
listening was that there was something to them after all.

The seventh and eighth symphonies turned me around, as far as Arnold was
concerned.  These two works opened up Arnold's entire catalogue to me.
Both of them lack the "vulgar" elements of things like the "barrelhouse"
finale of the Concerto for 2 pianos, 3 hands.  I realized that Arnold
(and Shostakovich, incidentally) used these elements as Mahler had, with
more than a little distance.  It helped me discover why Mahler's audiences
had such difficulty.

Steve Schwartz