Introduction

I am a child of the '60s. Apart from the fact that I'll never see 25 again (I
suppose the grey in the beard is a bit of a giveaway); have a residual fondness
for Bob Dylan, the Beatles and the Grateful Dead; and a tendency to say "far
out man" if I am not careful; what this means is that I was part of the
generation that grew up during the great Mahler revolution.

Several reasons have been put forward as to why it took so long for the music
of Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) to be appreciated. (Except in Holland: the
evangelism of Mahler disciple Willem Mengelberg - see below - who
conducted a complete Mahler cycle at the Concertgebouw as early as 1920,
ensured that, except during WWII, Mahler has always been popular in
Holland. Mengelberg was followed at the Concertgebouw by other dedicated
Mahlerians like van Beinum and Haitink.)

The advent of stereophonic recordings was obviously a factor - especially true
of the massive choral symphonies, Nos. 2 and 8; the centenary of Mahler's
birth in 1960 was another, as was the performance of the Adagietto from the
fifth symphony at JFK's funeral (and yes, I can remember where I was when I
heard the news) was another. Some devotees of the late Leonard Bernstein
have even suggested that it took a conductor of his persuasive advocacy to
convince people of the worth of the music; but this ignores, unfairly I believe,
the sterling efforts of the previous generation of Mahler conductors (Walter,
Klemperer, Horenstein, Mitropolous) who had spent so long as lone voices
crying in the wilderness. it also seems to me to represent a particularly North
American view: Bernstein's influence on the Mahler revival in Europe was
nothing like as significant.

I believe that it was only the coming of age of the post-World War II
generation, who had grown up under the everyday threat of extinction, that the
music really had a chance for general popularity. I do not use the word lightly,
for today Mahler is big box-office: the opening of a new concert hall will
probably be celebrated by a performance of the Resurrection symphony - or
even the enormous 8th, the so-called Symphony of a Thousand - Mahler
concerts invariably sell out, a conductor today is more likely to begin a
recorded cycle of Mahler symphonies than of Beethoven.

It has been suggested that there are four composers beyond criticism,
Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and your own particular favourite. I realised a few
years ago, when idly counting through my record collection, that Mahler must
count as my favourite. Apart from Beethoven, I possess more records of
Mahler than of any other composer. Most of them, thankfully, are good; very
few of them are downright bad, but then again not many of them are great
either.

Here then is Deryk's guide to the Mahler symphonies on record.