Donald Mitchell's Vol.4 published this month in UK

[Leo K]

In the UK, Donald Mitchell's fourth volume on his Mahler series will published...this looks really good:



Discovering Mahler: Writings on Mahler, 1955-2005 (Hardcover)
by Donald Mitchell (Author)

Product details

Hardcover: 736 pages
Publisher: The Boydell Press (20 Jun 2007)
Language English
ISBN-10: 184383345X
ISBN-13: 978-1843833451

Synopsis
"Discovering Mahler" is the fourth and final volume of Donald Mitchell's unique studies of Mahler and his music. This new publication fills the remaining gaps in the scrutiny of Mahler's works in the series, principally the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Symphonies, with the Ninth and Tenth. It begins with a substantial survey of Mahler's music, commissioned for the sixth edition of Grove's "Dictionary of Music and Musicians" (1980), but here printed in full for the first time. A striking feature throughout this collection is the examination of the revelatory role of the performer; this is epitomized in transcripts of significant conversations about the Fifth and Seventh Symphonies with, respectively, Riccardo Chailly and Bernard Haitink. The concluding section consists of major lectures and celebratory essays, some here published for the first time in English. These form a fascinating and frequently moving personal testament to a lifetime, and specifically fifty working years, of discovering Mahler. Donald Mitchell's three previous studies of Mahler are among the enduring monuments of postwar Mahler literature. He was awarded the Gustav Mahler Medal of Honour of the International Gustav Mahler Society in Vienna in 1987, and was appointed CBE in 2002.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Discovering-Mahler-Writings-1955-2005/dp/184383345X/ref=sr_1_1/202-2302096-0321416?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181916057&sr=1-1

--Leo

[Jot N. Tittle]

Thanks, Leo!

I've always enjoyed reading Donald Mitchell's work on Mahler, mainly for it's relentless "windiness." That is, his writing style is essentially oral, reflecting how he spoke--with frequent interjections, it occurs to me, that trace his spontaneous thoughts, as it were. (If you get my point.)

As I said, I've enjoyed his work for his style. But I value it for the substantive insights he has provided. (The interviews with Chailly and Haitink,  however, seem to me to be mostly fluff.)

This book is now in my Amazon.com shopping cart.

     . & '

[nickmolland]

Unsurprisingly perhaps, this seems to have been delayed - Amazon now tell me that delivery is likely in 4 - 6 weeks (ie, whenever). Perhaps Henry-Louis will beat him to the (English-speaking) market after all!

Nick