| biography |
| Anton Bruckner was born in Ansfelden on September 9, 1824. His father was a schoolmaster and organist with whom he first studied music. He studied at the St. Florian monastery, becoming an organist there in 1851. He continued his studies to the age of 40, but his most crucial contact was with the music of Richard Wagner which he first experienced in 1863. His other major influence is commonly considered to have been Ludwig van Beethoven. In 1868 he accepted a post as a teacher of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory. At this point he concentrated most of his energies on writing symphonies. However these symphonies were poorly received, considered 'wild' and 'nonsensical'. He later accepted a post at Vienna University in 1875 and beginning in the 1880s with Symphony No. 7 his work began to be accepted. He died in Vienna on October 11, 1896.
Despite
his contemporary image as a bumpkin from the provinces, Bruckner
(1824-1896) was a powerful, visionary musical thinker whose symphonies
were among the monumental accomplishments of the late 19th century.
Bruckner was the first symphonic composer to take up what Deryck
Cooke called the "metaphysical challenge" of Beethoven's Ninth.
He thereby renewed the symphony as an expression of transcendent
emotion and a confession of personal faith. Here are his essential
recordings.
|
| recommended
recordings |
|
Bruckner:
Symphony no 4 / Salonen, Los Angeles Philharmonic
|
|
Composer:
Anton
Bruckner
Conductor: Esa-Pekka
Salonen
Ensemble: Los
Angeles Philharmonic
Sony Classics - #63301 / July 28, 1998
Click
here for more information
|
|
Esa-Pekka Salonen is an amazing conductor. He has won a sterling
reputation as an interpreter of contemporary music, but here
he turns in a totally idiomatic, magnificently poised Bruckner
performance. The Los Angeles brass play with a burnished glow
recalling the great Central European orchestras, only with
more security, while the strings have all the weight that
Bruckner demands. The interpretation is magisterially slow--rather
like the old Karl Bohm/Vienna Philharmonic version--but never...Read
more
|
|
| |
Bruckner:
Symphony no 4 / Karl Böhm, Wiener PO
|
|
Composer:
Anton
Bruckner
Conductor: Karl
Böhm
Ensemble: Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra
Uni/Decca - #466374 / August 10, 1999
Click
here for more information
|
|
This is regarded by many experts as "the" recording
of Bruckner's Fourth (as far as any can be so called) and
it does not disappoint. The sound on this Decca disc is flawless,
as has the others I've listened to in the "Legends"
series. Sadly, Decca, like DG and EMI (esp. EMI) has a sad
history of letting great recordings go out of print...don't
miss this one if youre looking for a recording of this peice...it
will be a long time before such a series is again seen. |
|
|
Furtwängler
conducts Bruckner: Symphony no 9; Wagner |
|
Composer:
Anton
Bruckner, Richard
Wagner
Conductor: Wilhelm
Furtwängler
Ensemble: Berlin
Philharmonic Orchestra
Music & Arts - #730 / August 6, 1992
Click
here for more information
|
|
Furtwängler's connection with Bruckner's Ninth Symphony
went back to the dawn of his career: in fact, it was the featured
work on the program with which he made his symphonic conducting
debut in 1907, at the age of 20. But only one of Furtwängler's
performances of the Ninth was ever recorded, and this is it--a
soulful reading with the Berlin Philharmonic from a concert
given on October 7, 1944, in the dark final year of World
War II. Furtwängler was always, in his ...Read
more
|
|
|
Bruckner:
Symphonie no 8 / Karajan, Vienna Philharmonic
|
|
Composer:
Anton
Bruckner
Conductor: Herbert
von Karajan
Ensemble: Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra
Uni/Deutsche Grammophon - #27611 / September 12, 1989
Click
here for more information
|
|
Herbert von Karajan identified with the Eighth perhaps more
intensely than with any other score in the repertory; it is
significant that in February 1989, in what proved to be his
last performances outside of Austria, he brought it to New
York with the VPO and made it the centerpiece of a three-concert
engagement. The air of finality was heavy at those concerts,
and Karajan, determined to go out as a conqueror, did just
that. This 1988 recording comes very close to recapturing
the experience of...Read
more
|
|
| |
Bruckner:
Mass in D minor, Te Deum / Best, Corydon Singers
|
Composer:
Anton
Bruckner
Conductor: Matthew
Best
Performer: Keith
Lewis, Alastair
Miles, et al.
Ensemble: Corydon
Orchestra, Corydon
Singers
Hyperion (UK) - #66650 / September 21, 1993
Click
here for more information |
|
This extremely impressive disc contains music from the beginning
and the end of Bruckner's composing career. The Te Deum is
one of five great 19th-century settings of the text (the others
are by Haydn, Berlioz, Verdi, and Dvor‡k). In form it follows
a pattern similar to Haydn's, though on a much larger scale;
but musically it's unique. Bruckner's preference for unison
melody and modal harmony make the piece sound like a huge
Gregorian chant for chorus with orchestral accompaniment.
The piece was...Read
more
|
|
|
| works
& recordings |
|
- Abendzauber
in G flatmajor, WAB 57
- Aequale
for 3 Trombonesin C minor
- Aequale
no 1 for 3 Trombonesin C minor, WAB 114
- Aequale
no 2 for 3 Trombonesin C minor, WAB 149
- Afferentur
regi, WAB1
- Antiphon
- Ave
Maria
- Ave
Maria for 7 a cappellaVoices in F major, WAB 6
- Ave
Maria for Alto Soloand Organ/Harmonium in F major, WAB 7
- Ave
Maria for Chorusand Organ in F major, WAB 5
- Ave
regina, WAB 8
- Choral
Mass in F major,WAB 9
- Christus
factus est
- Christus
factus est inD minor, WAB 10
- Christus
factus est,WAB 11
- Das
deutsche Lied inD minor, WAB 63
- Ecce
sacerdos magnusin A minor, WAB 13
- Erinnerung
for Pianoin A flat major, WAB 117
- Fantasie
for Piano inG major
- Germanenzug
in D minor,WAB 70
- Helgoland
in G minor,WAB 71
- In
St Angelum custodem,WAB 18
- Intermezzo
for String Quintet in D minor, WAB 113
- Inveni
David in F minor,WAB 19
- KlavierstŸck
in E flat major
- Lancier-Quadrille
- Libera
me Domine in F major, WAB 21
- Libera
me Domine in F minor, WAB 22
- Locus
iste in C major,WAB 23
- Magnificat
in B flatmajor, WAB 24
- Mass
in C major, WAB25 "Windhaager Messe"
- Mass
no 1 in D minor,WAB 26
- Mass
no 2 in E minor,WAB 27
- Mass
no 2 in E minor,WAB 27: Kyrie eleyson
- Mass
no 3 in F minor,WAB 28
- Mass
no 3 in F minor,WAB 28: Sanctus
- Missa
solemnis in B flatminor, WAB 29
- Os
justi meditabitursapientiam, WAB 30
- Overture
in G minor
- Pange
lingua
- Pange
lingua no 1 inC major, WAB 31
- Pange
lingua no 2 inC major, WAB 32
- Pange
lingua, WAB 33 "Tantum ergo"
- Pieces
(3) for Piano 4 hands: no 1 in G major, Langsam
- Pieces
(3) for Piano 4 hands: no 2 in G major, Allegro moderato
- Pieces
(3) for Piano 4 hands: no 3 in F major, Langsam, feierlich-schneller
- Pieces
(4) for Orchestra,WAB 97
- Prayer
and Hallelujah
- Prelude
for Organ inC major
- Psalm
112 in B flat major,WAB 35
- Psalm
114 in G major,WAB 36
- Psalm
150 in C major,WAB 38
- Psalm
22 in E flat major,WAB 34
- Quadrille
for Piano 4hands
- Quartet
for Strings inC minor, WAB 111
- Quartet
for Strings inC minor, WAB 111: 4th movement, Rondo
- Quintet
for Strings inF major, WAB 112
- Quintet
for Strings inF major, WAB 112: Adagio
- Requiem
in D minor, WAB39
- Salvum
fac populum, WAB40
- Sonata
(3) first movementsfor Piano : no 3 in G minor
- Steiermärker
- Stille
Betrachtung aneinem Herbstabend
- Symphony
in F minor "StudySymphony"
- Symphony
no 0 in D minor,WAB 100 "Die Nullte"
- Symphony
no 0 in D minor,WAB 100 "Die Nullte": 3rd movement, Scherzo
- Symphony
no 1 in C minor,WAB 101
- Symphony
no 1 in C minor,WAB 101: 3rd movement, Scherzo
- Symphony
no 2 in C minor,WAB 102
- Symphony
no 2 in C minor,WAB 102: 2nd movement, Adagio
- Symphony
no 2 in C minor,WAB 102: 3rd movement, Scherzo
- Symphony
no 3 in D minor,WAB 103
- Symphony
no 3 in D minor,WAB 103: 3rd movement, Scherzo
- Symphony
no 4 in E flatmajor, WAB 104 "Romantic"
- Symphony
no 4 in E flatmajor, WAB 104 "Romantic": 1st mvt, Ruhig bewegt
- Symphony
no 4 in E flatmajor, WAB 104 "Romantic": 3rd movement, Scherzo
- Symphony
no 4 in E flatmajor, WAB 104 "Romantic": Excerpt(s)
- Symphony
no 5 in B flatmajor, WAB 105
- Symphony
no 5 in B flatmajor, WAB 105: Adagio
- Symphony
no 6 in A major,WAB 106
- Symphony
no 6 in A major,WAB 106: 2nd movement, Adagio - Sehr feierlich
- Symphony
no 6 in A major,WAB 106: 3rd movement, Scherzo - Nicht schnell
- Symphony
no 6 in A major,WAB 106: 4th movement, Bewegt
- Symphony
no 6 in A major,WAB 106: Excerpt(s)
- Symphony
no 7 in E major,WAB 107
- Symphony
no 7 in E major,WAB 107: 2nd movement, Adagio
- Symphony
no 7 in E major,WAB 107: 3rd movement, Scherzo
- Symphony
no 7 in E major,WAB 107: Excerpt(s)
- Symphony
no 8 in C minor,WAB 108
- Symphony
no 8 in C minor,WAB 108: 2nd movement
- Symphony
no 8 in C minor,WAB 108: 3rd movement
- Symphony
no 8 in C minor,WAB 108: 4th movement, Finale
- Symphony
no 8 in C minor,WAB 108: Scherzo - Excerpt(s)
- Symphony
no 9 in D minor,WAB 109
- Symphony
no 9 in D minor,WAB 109: 2nd movement, Scherzo
- Symphony
no 9 in D minor,WAB 109: Excerpt(s)
- Tantum
ergo (5), WAB41: no 2 in C major
- Tantum
ergo (5), WAB41: no 4 in A flat major
- Tantum
ergo (5), WAB41: no 5 in D major
- Tantum
ergo in A major,WAB 43
- Tantum
ergo(s)
- Te
Deum in C major, WAB45
- Te
Deum in C major, WAB45: Te Deum
- Tota
pulchra es, WAB46
- Trösterin
Musik in Cminor, WAB 88
- Veni
Sancte Spiritusin F major, WAB 50
- Vexilla
regis, WAB 51
- Virga
Jesse floruit inE minor, WAB 52
- Symphony
no 3 in D minor,WAB 103: 2nd movement, Adagio
- Symphony
no 4 in E flatmajor, WAB 104 "Romantic": 1st movement, Ruhig
bewegt - Excerpt(s)
- Symphony
no 4 in E flatmajor, WAB 104 "Romantic": Finale "Volkfest"
Complete
List of Works and Recordings
|
| resources |
|
|
Search
for "Bruckner, Anton" on
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
