Bruckner's Abbey

[Cato]

The link to the Marcus Bosch set comes up as Sibelius symphonies. 

I understand that Bosch, according to some Amazon reviewers, takes at least several of the symphonies at a "Fast and Furious" pace in a tribute to Vin Diesel!    

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Thanks for the link-correction! Fixed!

Yes, Bosch has a strange anti-following on Amazon... but he's not really all that wild. Or perhaps I've just missed those symphonies he DID take in such a manner.

[Cato]

Thanks for the link-correction! Fixed!

Yes, Bosch has a strange anti-following on Amazon... but he's not really all that wild. Or perhaps I've just missed those symphonies he DID take in such a manner.

VI and IX had complaints about ridiculously fast tempos.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

VI and IX had complaints about ridiculously fast tempos.

I can't comment on the Sixth, which I don't have -- except that my two favorite recordings (alongside Haitink/Dresden) are Celi/Munich and Norrington/Stuttgart, so speed can't be the issue, surely. (Also Klepmerer, I recall, is pretty quick here.)

In the Ninth, yes, he does take the first movement rather fast... but not by more than 10% compared to some of the fast(er) mainstream accounts. The Scherzo is middle-of-the-road, tempo-wise; (Dohnanyi/Cleveland, for example, is a bit faster.) And the third movement, too, is on the speedy side - granted - but not by much compared to, say, Jansons/RCO and Scherchen. In any case, I think that a fast slow movement is in part an outgrowth of performing the symphony with a fourth movement to come. (See discussion earlier in this thread.)

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Here's a parlor game of sorts: Pick your Bruckner First Eleven. How does that work? Easy enough -


My Bruckner First Eleven: A Dream-Team Fantasy
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2018/03/11/my-bruckner-first-eleven-a-dream-team-fantasy/#4301d0dd6e0e

Every click helps to convince Forbes.com to continue bothering with classical music coverage. Even silly articles like these.

[Mirror Image]

Nice article, Jens. I clicked on your link about 20 times.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Nice article, Jens. I clicked on your link about 20 times.

Thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks. 

[Mirror Image]

Thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks-thanks. 

[Cato]

I have never heard of Das Orchester der Klang-Verwaltung !  

http://www.klangverwaltung.de/kvo/index.html

Scroll down to see the English translation!  Apparently a Bruckner Fourth performance is recommended!

[SurprisedByBeauty]

I have never heard of Das Orchester der Klang-Verwaltung !  

http://www.klangverwaltung.de/kvo/index.html

Scroll down to see the English translation!  Apparently a Bruckner Fourth performance is recommended!

A pick-up orchestra made up of soloists and top-notch orchestral musicians from the MPhil, BRSO, BStOp orchestra and elsewhere, united by their belief in Guttenberg as a conductor. I'm not surprised that a B4 with them is recommended. Their Matthew Passion and Magic Flute are awesome. Heard them at their festival last year: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/10/07/the-castle-is-alive-with-music-the-herrenchiemsee-festival/2/#218b5e192161

[Cato]

A pick-up orchestra made up of soloists and top-notch orchestral musicians from the MPhil, BRSO, BStOp orchestra and elsewhere, united by their belief in Guttenberg as a conductor. I'm not surprised that a B4 with them is recommended. Their Matthew Passion and Magic Flute are awesome. Heard them at their festival last year: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/10/07/the-castle-is-alive-with-music-the-herrenchiemsee-festival/2/#218b5e192161

Many thanks for the recommendation!

Bruckner and The Passage of Time

Yesterday my Seventh Graders in Latin finished translating the Te Deum text used by Bruckner for his work, and so we listened to the piece.

Some were prepared to put their heads on their desks, a position which - in my classroom - brings with it a future decorated with black crepe and the delicate aroma of formaldehyde.

So these particular ones propped up their massive craniums on their arms.  The others followed the text as the choir and soloists zipped through the opening stanzas.  Bruckner (for those who do not know the work) lingers over the last lines of the hymn, especially the last words Non confundar in aeternum. ("I will not be confused in eternity.")

Five seconds after the mighty conclusion, the bell rang.  There was some general astonishment:

"Is the period over?  Already?"
"Huh?  How long is that work?!"
"I don't believe it!"

(This has happened before with Bruckner's religious works in my classroom.)

I simply commented that great music often takes away one's sense of Time, and brings you into its own temporal universe. 0:)

[Karl Henning]

Many thanks for the recommendation!

Bruckner and The Passage of Time

Yesterday my Seventh Graders in Latin finished translating the Te Deum text used by Bruckner for his work, and so we listened to the piece.

Some were prepared to put their heads on their desks, a position which - in my classroom - brings with it a future decorated with black crepe and the delicate aroma of formaldehyde.

So these particular ones propped up their massive craniums on their arms.  The others followed the text as the choir and soloists zipped through the opening stanzas.  Bruckner (for those who do not know the work) lingers over the last lines of the hymn, especially the last words Non confundar in aeternum. ("I will not be confused in eternity.")

Five seconds after the mighty conclusion, the bell rang.  There was some general astonishment:

"Is the period over?  Already?"
"Huh?  How long is that work?!"
"I don't believe it!"

(This has happened before with Bruckner's religious works in my classroom.)

I simply commented that great music often takes away one's sense of Time, and brings you into its own temporal universe. 0:)

Separately . . . I may just like that Cincinnati recording of the Sixth even better than HvK's . . . .

[André]

Separately . . . I may just like that Cincinnati recording of the Sixth even better than HvK's . . . .

I suppose you are referring to the Lopez-Cobos ? It has an honesty that disarms criticism. I wouldn't put it in the top 5 (I like a certain level of gruffness in the 6th), but certainly in the top 10. An apollonian 6th...

[Cato]

Separately . . . I may just like that Cincinnati recording of the Sixth even better than HvK's . . . .

I suppose you are referring to the Lopez-Cobos ? It has an honesty that disarms criticism. I wouldn't put it in the top 5 (I like a certain level of gruffness in the 6th), but certainly in the top 10. An apollonian 6th...

High praise and an excellent description:

[asin]B000003CXD[/asin]

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Bruckner Angelic 11

A Proposal. (Click to enlarge)

[Cato]

Continuing my little personal series about the first time I heard each symphony....

Long-time members may recall my story about coming across the score - imported from Austria and edited by Leopold Nowak - in the public library.  While I was reading through it, I became ever more enthusiastic about the work!

This was the first time I had ever heard of Bruckner, and so I began to look for a biography, but at the time the library had none.  An encyclopedia entry had to suffice.

Not long after that experience, the library purchased the DGG Bruckner Seventh Symphony  with  0:) Eugen Jochum  0:) conducting: 2 LP's with Psalm 150 filling out Side 4.

I may have been the first one to check the record out, for it was in pristine condition.  Now, keep in mind that my record player dated from the early 1950's, and had no stereo capacity.  It would be a few years before my family could invest in a stereo player (a Magnavox, the woofers and tweeters were about 3 inches wide at the most!).

In spite of that, I was hooked on every note!  The opening theme, over 20 bars long, the climaxes, the crescendos toward the climaxes, the calm sections, everything sounded amazing!  I believe the year was 1964 or '65.

After that, I was "hooked on Bruckner," and hooked on Jochum!   0:)

[Karl Henning]

Magnavox:  there is a word I have not heard (or read) in many a day . . . .

[Cato]

Magnavox:  there is a word I have not heard (or read) in many a day . . . .

"Great voice" in Latin!  Apparently the name is still alive, now owned by Philips.

[Cato]

Continuing my little personal series about the first time I heard each symphony....

Long-time members may recall my story about coming across the score - imported from Austria and edited by Leopold Nowak - in the public library.  While I was reading through it, I became ever more enthusiastic about the work!

This was the first time I had ever heard of Bruckner, and so I began to look for a biography, but at the time the library had none.  An encyclopedia entry had to suffice.

Not long after that experience, the library purchased the DGG Bruckner Seventh Symphony  with  0:) Eugen Jochum  0:) conducting: 2 LP's with Psalm 150 filling out Side 4.

I may have been the first one to check the record out, for it was in pristine condition.  Now, keep in mind that my record player dated from the early 1950's, and had no stereo capacity.  It would be a few years before my family could invest in a stereo player (a Magnavox, the woofers and tweeters were about 3 inches wide at the most!).

In spite of that, I was hooked on every note!  The opening theme, over 20 bars long, the climaxes, the crescendos toward the climaxes, the calm sections, everything sounded amazing!  I believe the year was 1964 or '65.

After that, I was "hooked on Bruckner," and hooked on Jochum!   0:)

To continue with some specifics about my first impressions:

I recall being intrigued by the upward thrust of the music at the beginning, and not just with the opening theme, e.g. the first great crescendo beginning at bar 106 ff. (Nowak score) uses a constantly upward struggling motif, and then the angular, and  the rather wild dancing motif at bar 123ff. in the strings dances its way skyward by bar 144.  But then we have the main theme inverted and the trend is downward, but only a trend, since certain instruments (e.g. the flute at bar 210) still want to defy gravity.

This idea of inverting the main theme was new to me at the time, and I recall resisting the notion for some reason, but I began to hear a certain logic to this mirroring, as soon as bars 290-302 hit, which I thought were just magnificent: yet even more magnificent was everything in Letter W (bars 391-402), right before the coda.

I also learned that the figurations in the violins are not just there to move things harmonically, but also have a motivic function, especially at the beginning (bar 413 ff.).

[Cato]

To continue with some specifics about my first impressions:

I recall being intrigued by the upward thrust of the music at the beginning, and not just with the opening theme, e.g. the first great crescendo beginning at bar 106 ff. (Nowak score) uses a constantly upward struggling motif, and then the angular, and  the rather wild dancing motif at bar 123ff. in the strings dances its way skyward by bar 144.  But then we have the main theme inverted and the trend is downward, but only a trend, since certain instruments (e.g. the flute at bar 210) still want to defy gravity.

This idea of inverting the main theme was new to me at the time, and I recall resisting the notion for some reason, but I began to hear a certain logic to this mirroring, as soon as bars 290-302 hit, which I thought were just magnificent: yet even more magnificent was everything in Letter W (bars 391-402), right before the coda.

I also learned that the figurations in the violins are not just there to move things harmonically, but also have a motivic function, especially at the beginning (bar 413 ff.).

I have a little more time than I thought would have, so I will make a few comments about my memories of the Adagio.

I knew nothing of any connection between the movement and Wagner's death, but that it was a lamentation was obvious even to my immature ears.

Those ears did understand a curious connection between the main theme of Movement I and the secondary theme in Letter D (bars 37 ff.).  Exactly what that connection might have been...?  Perhaps a counterbalance to the Gravitas of the opening bars.

However, that some sort of soulful conflict was happening became obvious in the famous heart of the movement, the huge crescendo at Letter S (bar 157 ff.), where there is a kind of trepidation, yet this trepidation, this feeling of something ominous ahead, is outweighed by a desire to continue forward and upward.  The famous chorale at Letter X (bar 184 ff.): yes, it was an amazing experience to hear the deep brass mourning and then the 4 horns crying forth: the simplicity of the section belied its power.