September 2, 2013.Anton Bruckner.This week we celebrate one of the most important composers of the 19th century, Anton Bruckner, who was born on September 4, 1824.Last year we attempted to give a broad overview of his life; this year we’ll focus on one of his symphonies, no. 5.Bruckner started working on the symphony in 1875 (he was 51 by then – he wrote his first symphony when he was already 41) and completed it the following year.Bruckner, who was born not far from Linz, had been living in Vienna and teaching music theory at the Vienna Conservatory.In 1875 he accepted a similar position at the Vienna University.In the preceding 10 years he already wrote five symphonies, most of them poorly received (Bruckner was so disheartened by the reception of the Symphony in D minor, which he wrote in 1869, that he refused to give it a number.It is now known as Symphony no. 0).Back in the 1860s and ‘70s the musical establishment in Vienna was divided between the devotees of Wagner and followers of Brahms.Bruckner worshiped Wagner’s music, and for that reason he became an enemy of a very influential critic and Brahms’s supporter Eduard Hanslick.Bruckner did have his own followers, one of them the young but very talented conductor Arthur Nikisch, who later premiered Bruckner’s Symphony no. 7.That support came not without considerable drawbacks: some conductors, such as Bruckner’s former pupil Franz Schalk, in an attempt to make his music more accessible to the Viennese public, performed it with numerous cuts and alterations to the scores.Sometime these changes were made without the composer’s knowledge, other times with the assent of the ever-insecure Bruckner.
As all Bruckner’s symphonies, no. 5 consists of four movements.It starts with the pianissimo pizzicato of the slow Introduction, which evolves majestically into several major themes (Symphony no 5 is the only one by Bruckner that begins with a slow movement).Introduction is formally written in B-flat major, but tonality shifts almost continuously.Like the first movement, the second one also starts with a pizzicato (and so does the forth movement; for that reason one of the Symphony’s monikers is Pizzicato.The other common name is Tragic).The second movement, Adagio, is marked Sehr langsam or "very slow."The music moves from one thematic material to another, but the general tone of this movement is more lyrical than the mood of the first movement.The third movement, Scherzo Molto Vivace (very lively) is in D minor.The tempo of the last movement, Finale is marked as Adagio, the same as of the first movement, and indeed, it has a similarly leisurely opening.It reuses the theme first heard in the opening movement, but soon evolves into the new material.The amazing sonic structure that Bruckner builds in the Finale contains some of most interesting music he ever wrote.
The first performance of the symphony was conducted by Franz Schalk in 1894.Schalk made many cuts and changed some instrumentation, probably without Bruckner’s approval (Bruckner himself was ill and couldn’t attend the performance).We’ll hear the complete authentic 1878 version (it runs for one hour and 17 minutes) in the performance by Staatskapelle Dresden under the direction of Giuseppe Sinopoli.Sinopoli, who died of a heart attack in 2001at the age 54, was one a major Brucknerians of the late 20th century.You can also listen to the individual movements (just click on their titles).
Bruckner 2013
September 2, 2013. Anton Bruckner. This week we celebrate one of the most important composers of the 19th century, Anton Bruckner, who was born on September 4, 1824. Last year we attempted to give a broad overview of his life; this year we’ll focus on one of his symphonies,
no. 5. Bruckner started working on the symphony in 1875 (he was 51 by then – he wrote his first symphony when he was already 41) and completed it the following year. Bruckner, who was born not far from Linz, had been living in Vienna and teaching music theory at the Vienna Conservatory. In 1875 he accepted a similar position at the Vienna University. In the preceding 10 years he already wrote five symphonies, most of them poorly received (Bruckner was so disheartened by the reception of the Symphony in D minor, which he wrote in 1869, that he refused to give it a number. It is now known as Symphony no. 0). Back in the 1860s and ‘70s the musical establishment in Vienna was divided between the devotees of Wagner and followers of Brahms. Bruckner worshiped Wagner’s music, and for that reason he became an enemy of a very influential critic and Brahms’s supporter Eduard Hanslick. Bruckner did have his own followers, one of them the young but very talented conductor Arthur Nikisch, who later premiered Bruckner’s Symphony no. 7. That support came not without considerable drawbacks: some conductors, such as Bruckner’s former pupil Franz Schalk, in an attempt to make his music more accessible to the Viennese public, performed it with numerous cuts and alterations to the scores. Sometime these changes were made without the composer’s knowledge, other times with the assent of the ever-insecure Bruckner.
As all Bruckner’s symphonies, no. 5 consists of four movements. It starts with the pianissimo pizzicato of the slow Introduction, which evolves majestically into several major themes (Symphony no 5 is the only one by Bruckner that begins with a slow movement). Introduction is formally written in B-flat major, but tonality shifts almost continuously. Like the first movement, the second one also starts with a pizzicato (and so does the forth movement; for that reason one of the Symphony’s monikers is Pizzicato. The other common name is Tragic). The second movement, Adagio, is marked Sehr langsam or "very slow." The music moves from one thematic material to another, but the general tone of this movement is more lyrical than the mood of the first movement. The third movement, Scherzo Molto Vivace (very lively) is in D minor. The tempo of the last movement, Finale is marked as Adagio, the same as of the first movement, and indeed, it has a similarly leisurely opening. It reuses the theme first heard in the opening movement, but soon evolves into the new material. The amazing sonic structure that Bruckner builds in the Finale contains some of most interesting music he ever wrote.
The first performance of the symphony was conducted by Franz Schalk in 1894. Schalk made many cuts and changed some instrumentation, probably without Bruckner’s approval (Bruckner himself was ill and couldn’t attend the performance). We’ll hear the complete authentic 1878 version (it runs for one hour and 17 minutes) in the performance by Staatskapelle Dresden under the direction of Giuseppe Sinopoli. Sinopoli, who died of a heart attack in 2001at the age 54, was one a major Brucknerians of the late 20th century. You can also listen to the individual movements (just click on their titles).