Dvorak - Symphony No 9 (From the New World. Or the old Hovis advert)

There is a song by The Fall (“Just Step”, on Hex Enduction Hour) which begins “When what used to excite you does not”. That is exactly how I feel about this music. Like Sibelius’s First Symphony, it was one of the first classical records I bought. (the late Vernon Handley and the LPO, I think). Unlike the Sibelius, or Dvorak’s American Quartet, which I listened to and loved a few months ago, none of it gives me any sort of thrill, of discovering anything new. Maybe the well-remembered tunes make this too comfort zone, familiar and reassuring.