EC, I am probably absolutely wrong and stupid to argue with a man of your experience and intellect, but i do enjoy a good argument.
I absolutely love Messiaen's music but i am unsure if he continued the Mahlerian tradition. I think his music owes more to the 2nd Viennese school and impressionism. Would this school not relate more to Wagner "tristan chord and all that b******* " than Mahler? Messiaen was a composer with Synasthesia, who was obsessed with colour and structure. Certainly the Turanglila is a wonderfully Romantic, luscious, and colourful music, but for me it resonates more with early Schoenberg e.g.
Verklärte Nacht one of my favourite pieces of music!
By the way i loved the videos. Sorry for being a pain in the Bloomin Untidy Musician and "nit picking."