Andrew Carlan <[log in to unmask]> writes, in an effort to codify
reasons why Brahms lacks luster for many of us:

>Brahms lacks what otherwise unites the symphonic tradition up to him and
>that is the primacy of propulsion.  There is something static about the
>Brahms symphonies.  Their energy level is one-tenth of Beethoven's.  And
>for all that, my favorite Brahms is his most relaxed symphony and the slow
>movement of that, which for me is very unusual.

I think "propulsion" is precisely the problem, which often translates,
for me at least, into boredom.

D. Stephen Heersink
San Francisco
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