Continuing the focus on Otto Klemperer, we turn to his book about his memories of Mahler, “Minor Recollections”:

“In 1910, during a discussion of Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral” in Munich, Mahler expressed strong criticism of academically trained German conductors, who, he said, did not understand the work. ‘How should the second movement—the scene beside the stream—be conducted?’ he asked. ‘If you conduct in twelve-eight, it’s too slow. If you conduct in twelve-eight with four beats, it’s too fast. How, then?’ He supplied the answer himself: ‘With a feeling for Nature.’…” —Page 25