Mahler Today

Extract

After long neglect, Mahler is in the lime-light again. I see that there are more performances of his symphonies than for many years past. The young generation is discovering Mahler; young people are trying to get hold of the scores and records and are attending lectures and discussions in clubs and private gatherings. Musicians and writers, some of whom held that history had passed its verdict on Mahler long ago, are taking up his case again, as little biased as their earlier records will permit. How is it that public opinion concerning this composer, who died more than thirty years ago, is still unsettled? Decades have elapsed without Mahler's music being heard, and the number of musicians in this country who can claim close acquaintance with it is, in fact, very small.