Finally...the 8th

So I did work all day Tuesday and into the night. Worked a bit today too, but not as much as I should have.

And now we're going to whine about something else...

I finally have all of the Mahler Symphonies on my iTunes!!! This is something I've been trying to do forever and today I thought I was going to complete my dream. But first, as with everything, a little story.

Freshman year of college I was introduced to Mahler by playing French Horn in my University orchestra's performance of Mahler's 4th. It was a moving piece of work, a little obscure considering I was used to hearing only about the earlier composers, but it came to define the semester and year for me. When ever I hear it I am transported back to those confusing, exhilarating, stressful, and fun days of freshman year.

Since then I had found that my parent's collection contained most of the Mahler symphonies, including a version of his unfinished 10th. They are great to listen to because they are long and they take their time and the first four connect together very well (read as: sound the same).

I was lacking the 6th and 8th. So this year, since I wanted to be able to listen to all of them I asked for the 6th and 8th as birthday gifts, with the caveat being that of all the things I wanted for my birthday, those two recordings were the ones I wanted the most. I got the 6th, but not the 8th.

I had really been looking forward to the 8th the most because of its nick name "Symphony of a Thousand". The sheer audacity to perform such a large orchestration excited me and I've been waiting to hear what such a large group would sound like. I got the 8th for Christmas...best gift ever, aside from the books I also received.

So today, in some down time, I decided to add the CD of the 8th to my iTunes. Well, I tried to at least. My CD drive on my laptop is... temperamental. It likes to work when it feels like it. I've never really experienced an electronic with such personality...lucky me.

Being so close to finally having the complete collection and then being foiled by the silliest hang-up was infuriating! Clearly causing me to be unproductive for the rest of the day.

But now, a little past midnight, I've finally massaged the drive into working and have the complete 1-10 collection!!! I can't wait to listen to it all together for the first time! I put off listening to the 6th until I had the 8th because I wanted to listen to the full evolution of Mahler's composing.

Truly the next few days will be aural heaven.

:-)