Madam, - The discussion of a composer like Mahler sometimes turns into one of two unhelpful culs-de-sac. Often it is seen to be the preserve of retirees or stuffy academics, who, perhaps, are interested only in nice "classical" music and wouldn't have much interest in, say, a Mogwai gig. Alternatively, Mahler is assessed in "human interest" terms as a late romantic, full of ardent emotion and struck down by tragedy.
What is inadequately described is the power of the music itself. Listening to a Mahler symphony is like The Shawshank Redemption, Star Wars, Bambi, the Theory of Relativity, the Petronas Towers, the Hoover Dam, Guernica and the Garda band rolled into one. - Yours, etc,
JEREMY CHIPPERFIELD, Hunters Green, Ballycullen Road, Dublin 24.