The last time I listened to Brahms' 2nd Piano Concerto, I realized that despite its masterful construction, I don't like it. Every movement, except the last, struck me as overblown. The first movement sounds like a lot of chest puffing, and the second movement is so tragic, but about what? There are two other Brahms pieces that belong to the category, "Greatest Music I Don't Like": The 4th Symphony and the Violin Concerto. Again, with the fourth, everything seems blown out of proportion. I especially don't get the 2nd movement. It's like an endless parade of one profound idea after another, to the point where I get tired of the profundity. There's just too much excitement in this symphony - it doesn't seem sincere (same goes for the 2nd Piano Concerto). The Violin Concerto has an epic orchestral introduction before the violin bursts on the scene, which might have been the inspiration for Tchaikovky's remark, "all pedestal and no statue". (I don't mean to pick on Brahms. There are many Brahms pieces that I like, a lot: 1st & 3rd Symphonies, "A German Requiem", many of his piano pieces, especially op. 118 & 119.) Just about anything I've heard by Mendelssohn is the "Greatest Music I Don't Like". The last time I heard the Reformation Symphony I was reminded of why I don't have it in my CD collection. In fact, I only have three pieces by Mendelssohn: 3rd & 4th Symphonies, and the Hebrides Overture (my favorite Mendelssohn piece, that I know of). I rarely listen to them. I recently heard a Mendelssohn chamber piece on the radio - I think it was a String Sextet. While listening to it I didn't know the piece or the composer, but after noticing the excellent compositional technique combined with apparent total lack of depth, I rightly concluded it was Mendelssohn. Mike Leghorn Evanston, IL