Brooklyn vs. Schumann

I was listening to Schumann's second symphony, first movement. It starts so well in its muted heralding with choral-like string counter themes moving in opposite directions, but it soon turns into this mish-mash of unbalanced theme tossing. It picks up here and there, and you can hear the genius of Schumann - the sincerity of his thoughtful melodic structures, but then it just blathers back into the usual uninspired tricks and turns and echoes to fill time. Wow, I must be really hot and tired! 

Saw much of Brooklyn today on foot, and the parts I've seen now are almost all beautiful, friendly, and interesting. Today, I pick Brooklyn over Schumann. Brooklyn develops his themes, has more originality, and is more generous in his inspiration. There is a solidity and a natural uninterrupted building flow and sense of purpose and storytelling just below the surface with Brooklyn that I'm not able to decipher in Schumann's second, at least in the first movement.

Tomorrow at a church in the next block, there are signs up inviting one and all to come watch live on a big screen across the alter, the funeral of Michael Jackson. I think I will attend.