SELECTED LETTERS OF GUSTAV MAHLER

From over 3000 pieces of correspondence, Mahler's widow Alma selected 420 Mahler letters (mostly on professional matters) for publication in 1924--a ""subjective"" and abridged selection that, as this new edition's expert organizer admits, presents some Mahler relationships incomplete, or even distorted, perspective. Martner's re-issue, however, does restore the full texts where possible, establishes precise chronology, adds another 23 letters not in the original, and supplies footnotes, a ""biographical list of addressees"" (a fairly unexciting bunch, Bruno Walter excepted), appendices--all manner of annotation. Limited appeal for the music-loving layman (who'll prefer Alma's Gustav Mahler, Memories and Letters, U.S. 1974), but a vital new source for English-speaking scholars--at least until Martner's planned Complete Letters is finished and (if ever) translated into English.