Musical theft periodically makes for sensational news. One band accuses the other of blindly stealing its hit melody. But what about art whose meaning primarily derives from reference to other works? This is a common aesthetic of our time, but it was already established around the turn of the 20th century with composers like Gustav Mahler and Charles Ives. In my Mahler series, this question always makes for stimulating discussion. What are the implications, resonances, meanings of musical theft?