Favorite Moments in a Bruckner Symphony

[ChamberNut]

Symphony No. 5, in the 2nd movement, approx. 3 minutes in, the beautiful theme by the strings.

Symphony No. 9, 2nd movement Scherzo.  The tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock effect followed by the loud exploding theme!

[Gustav]

symphony 2
The part starting from Letter C

[BachQ]

Sym 3 adagio
Sym 4 finale crescendo
Sym 5 finale
Sym 6 1st mvt
Sym 8 finale, adagio, 1st mvt
Sym 9 1st mvt

[Lethevich]

6th mvt 1, coda
4th andante
8th mvt 4, last minute or so

[(poco) Sforzando]

The scherzo of 8. I think someone described it as "the mountains dancing."

The scherzo of 9, with its driving, pounding opening and the scurrying middle section.

The slow movements of 7-9. No more glorious climax anywhere than the big C major moment in 7, triangle/cymbal or no.

[Keemun]

Symphony No. 5, in the 2nd movement, approx. 3 minutes in, the beautiful theme by the strings.

That's one of mine also.    Here are some more:

Symphony No. 7, first and second movements

Symphony No. 8, third movement and end of fourth movement

Symphony No. 9, first movement

[Gustav]

Symphony #3

The begining of it fascinates me very much.
The second movement is very beautiful, possibly one of the most beautiful slow movements.
The finale, where the first "polka" theme emerges is also one of my favorite 3rd moments.

Symphony # 5
no favorite moments, or rather, every moment of this symphony is my favorite!

Symphony # 6

yet, another beautiful slow movement, very moving. the trio in the scherzo, and the coda of the finale.

Symphony #8
The very beginning, when the cloud clears, and the sun shines through... when the key shifts to major for the first time, albeit briefly.
i like the end of the first section of the scherzo very much. when the strings "Climbs" to a climax in the trio section
in the finale, the CODA of Course! who doesn't?

[hautbois]

EVERYTIME the "Bruckner rhythmic Ostinato pattern" comes in. And the use of circle of fifths that are so cheesy yet original in a way. My favourite symphonist by all means! The opening of the Scherzos never fail to awe in my very humble opinion. 

Howard

[FideLeo]

The climax in any of the movements from any of his symphonies. 

[c#minor]

9th- 1st and 3rd


c#

[eyeresist]

Hard to narrow it down, but...

3rd - The brass blaring out the big tune in the finale. The BPO under Karajan are v impressive

4th - Opening of the 1st mvnt. Return of the horn call at end of the Nowak version.

5th - Reiteration of previous themes at beginning of finale.

9th - All of it! Perhaps especially the heartrending (if done properly) opening of the adagio.

[Lilas Pastia]

EVERYTIME the "Bruckner rhythmic Ostinato pattern" comes in. And the use of circle of fifths that are so cheesy yet original in a way. My favourite symphonist by all means! The opening of the Scherzos never fail to awe in my very humble opinion. 

Howard

Yup! Well said !

[Bonehelm]

The destructive brass tutti statements in the last movement of the 4th, and 9th; the towering coda of the 8th's finale, the build-up to the glorious parade of the 7th's finale...

[val]

The beginning of the first movement of the 3rd Symphony.

The Scherzo of the 2nd.

The coda of the first movement of the 6th.

The Choral in the end of the last movement of the 5th.

All the Adagio of the 8th.

All the 3rd movement of the 9th.

[Sergeant Rock]

The chorale in the first movement development of the 4th. I prefer conductors who emphasize it by slowing the tempo, dragging it out. Karajan (EMI) is the best.

Sarge

[greg]

the scherzo of the 7th, any of his endings which have HIS stamp on them (like in the 7th), the Scherzo of the 9th.... the opening of the 4th (just to name a few)

[PerfectWagnerite]

The chorale in the first movement development of the 4th. I prefer conductors who emphasize it by slowing the tempo, dragging it out. Karajan (EMI) is the best.

Sarge

I take it you mean the chorale passage starting with the horns in bar 297 and continued by the rest of the brass in 305 below:



Except there is absolutely no indication to slow down whatsoever. I HATE when conductors drag that part out.

[Gustav]

the chorale starts at bar 305, where the brass blares out the solemn theme, look what bruckner wrote there:
"gut gehalten" or "well held" (according to google translator), i don't know about you, can you "well held" a note and not slow down a little?

[Sergeant Rock]

I take it you mean the chorale passage starting with the horns in bar 297 and continued by the rest of the brass in 305 below:
Except there is absolutely no indication to slow down whatsoever. I HATE when conductors drag that part out.

the chorale starts at bar 305, where the brass blares out the solemn theme, look what bruckner wrote there:
"gut gehalten" or "well held" (according to google translator), i don't know about you, can you "well held" a note and not slow down a little?

The chorale begins at 305 but the music is reined in some measures before with the solo horn. Even if Bruckner hadn't annotated 305 the way he did, I'd still want to hear a conductor place some emphasis on that passage. To me the appearance of a chorale, whether in Bruckner or any other composer, signifies a solemn, even mystical event. Obviously, PW, you and I have different taste. I hate conductors who breeze through these sublime moments as though they were nothing special. And furthermore, I don't believe that slavish devotion to the letter of the score is what makes a great conductor or, necessarily, a great performance.

We're all lucky. We have so many choices today, all tastes can be catered too.

Sarge

[PerfectWagnerite]

the chorale starts at bar 305, where the brass blares out the solemn theme, look what bruckner wrote there:
"gut gehalten" or "well held" (according to google translator), i don't know about you, can you "well held" a note and not slow down a little?

It could. But it could also mean to sustain it fully and continuously. Looking at the entire movement when Bruckner wanted it to slow down he writes explicitly to slow down.

The chorale begins at 305 but the music is reined in some measures before with the solo horn. Even if Bruckner hadn't annotated 305 the way he did, I'd still want to hear a conductor place some emphasis on that passage. To me the appearance of a chorale, whether in Bruckner or any other composer, signifies a solemn, even mystical event. Obviously, PW, you and I have different taste. I hate conductors who breeze through these sublime moments as though they were nothing special. And furthermore, I don't believe that slavish devotion to the letter of the score is what makes a great conductor or, necessarily, a great performance.

We're all lucky. We have so many choices today, all tastes can be catered too.

Sarge

I think that moment is of such grandeur and beauty that if you just play it the way it is , that is, in temp with forte brasses as indicated it is already very convincing. It has the natural effect of seemingly slowing down even if you keep the tempo more or less the same anyway. It certainly does not need any special milking by any means.