Bruckners 6th

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Thank you very very much, LP! I have that DGG Karajan recording... I think I'll make an appointment with this work (and in that reading) when I have the time, inclination and concentration.

I'll report back.

Johan

[M forever]

Heee... In this particular case I can only reflect on my own personal experience, which was hearing the Sibelius 6th in 'the right interpretation'  at the appropriate moment -which begs the question: what can possibly be "the right circumstances, stage of personal development and frame of mind"  ? IMO it's a conjunction of circumstances, some of which are factual, some psychological and some purely fortuitous. For your information, and if that can help, it was the DGG Karajan recording, and the 'moment' that hooked me was in the first movement, when the primeval english horn theme emerges from the mists.

I don't think there is an english horn in Sibelius 6 (or indeed in any of the symphonies, none that I can think of now).

[Lilas Pastia]

You're right. It's an oboe, playing an ascending theme above the strings. Depending on the version it's first heard around 1:10 (Vänskä) or 1:25 (Rozhdestvenski, where it's practically buried in the texture).  It's then passed to the other winds that start a dialogue with the strings. IIRC that Karajan recording lets one hear the winds in a combination of warmth and translucence that is sheer magic. I had it on lp but it's long gone by now. I do recall that the later EMI version was more prosaic, with everything played louder and slower.