Though the music portrays chaos, it is not chaotic itself. The conventional composer would probably end here or at least in some glorious blaze, but Schmidt avoids the conventional. The actual end is St. John exhorting all to heed his vision, sung to the opening carillon-like music. The performance isn't perfect, any more than every performance of Mahler's Eighth I've ever heard. It's big, hard, complex, and complicated.
Strings are here and there rhythmically ragged.
I know I would be hanging on by my fingernails. But they do get through it. In fact, everyone does and triumphantly, to boot. The diction from everyone is excellent, even considering those sections where the music seems to throw off more lines than one human being can comprehend. Amidst the mighty whirlwinds, the performers communicate.