What is the key of Bruckner's seventh symphony?
1936526#4
The composition of his Fourth Symphony marked the beginning of what some refer to as the "Major Tetralogy", Bruckner's four symphonies composed in Major keys. In fact, this tetralogy was part of an entire decade in Bruckner's compositional history devoted to large-scale works written in major keys, a fact of note considering that all of his previous symphonies and foremost choral works were composed in minor keys. The composition of his String Quintet and the Sixth Symphony marked the beginning of a new compositional period for Bruckner within the realm of the "Major Tetralogy". However, the Sixth Symphony has extensive ties to the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies and is considered to have been composed as a reflective, humanistic response to its two direct symphonic predecessors. It has even been dubbed the "Philosophical" symphony by critics for this reason.
Symphony No. 6 (Bruckner)
1969366#0
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 in E major (WAB 107) is one of his best-known symphonies. It was written between 1881 and 1883 and was revised in 1885. It is dedicated to Ludwig II of Bavaria. The premiere, given under Arthur Nikisch and the Gewandhaus Orchestra in the opera house at Leipzig on 30 December 1884, brought Bruckner the greatest success he had known in his life. The symphony is sometimes referred to as the "Lyric", though the appellation is not the composer's own, and is seldom used.
Symphony No. 7 (Bruckner)
1936526#7
Other characteristics that are found in Bruckner's symphonies (especially the Sixth) include the extensive treatment of the dominant seventh chord as a German sixth chord in a new key, usage of cadences as a decisive factor in daring modulations, the treatment of organ points as pivotal to the harmony and structure, chains of harmonic sequences, and, most notably, extensive use of rhythmic motives, especially the characteristic Bruckner rhythm, a rhythm consisting of two fourths and three quarter notes, or vice versa. This rhythm dominated most of the Fourth Symphony and was practically nonexistent in the Fifth Symphony, but becomes nothing short of a driving force in the Sixth Symphony; the metric complexities generated by this unique rhythmic grouping are more pronounced in the first movement of the Sixth Symphony than in any of Bruckner's other compositions.
Symphony No. 6 (Bruckner)
45350506#12
Bruckner began composition of his Symphony No. 8 in C minor in 1884. In 1887 Bruckner sent the work to Hermann Levi, the conductor who had led his Seventh to great success. Levi, who had said Bruckner's Seventh Symphony was the greatest symphony written after Beethoven, believed that the Eighth was a confusing jumble. Devastated by Levi's assessment, Bruckner revised the work, sometimes with the aid of Franz Schalk, and completed this new version in 1890. Deryck Cooke writes that "Bruckner not only recomposed [the Eighth]... but greatly improved it in a number of ways... This is the one symphony that Bruckner did not fully achieve in his first definite version, to which there can be no question of going back."
List of symphonies by Anton Bruckner
2011864#34
Beginning belligerently (by Bruckner's standards), this movement reaches a triumphant conclusion using themes (or at least rhythmic impressions of these) from all four movements. The form of this movement is complex, derived from a three-subject sonata structure but, like the opening movement of Symphony No. 7, highly individualised. The scale and complexity of this movement are both on a different level from that in the opening of the Seventh Symphony, however, not least in that this movement must synthesise the entire symphony (as it reworks old ideas and new ones into a coherent whole), and forms what must be a satisfactory conclusion for the whole work.
Symphony No. 8 (Bruckner)
1936526#38
The Coda once again encompasses a broad range of keys and juxtaposes the primary theme with the main theme from the first movement. A final massive statement of A major asserts itself (bar 397) seemingly out of nowhere, embodying Bruckner's amazing ability to establish the tonic without a doubt and without the kind of preparation one would normally expect. This movement does not, nor was it intended to have the vast impact of the Finale of Bruckner's Symphony No. 5, but it is infinitely more refined than the Finale of his Fourth Symphony. According to Watson, the victorious conclusion of Bruckner's quest for a new and ideal finale form will be celebrated in his Eighth Symphony, but the Sixth Symphony's development is an eminent and profoundly satisfying landmark on that triumphant march.
Symphony No. 6 (Bruckner)
1936526#39
This is the only Bruckner symphony exempt from any revisions by the composer. (The Fifth, Sixth and Seventh represent Bruckner's period of confidence as a composer and, along with the unfinished Ninth, are as a group the symphonies he did not extensively revise.) The Sixth was first published in 1899, a task overseen by former Bruckner pupil Cyrill Hynais. This edition did encompass a few minute changes from Bruckner's original: the repetition of the second half of the Trio in the third movement. The next edition appeared only in 1935, from Robert Haas under "Internationale Bruckner-Gesellschaft" auspices. In 1952 Leopold Nowak, who took over Haas's job, published an edition that was a replicate of Bruckner's 1881 original score. In 1986 the "IBG" issued an “audit” of the efforts of Hynais, Haas and Nowak, and in 1997 it republished the Nowak.
Symphony No. 6 (Bruckner)
2052551#41
Thereafter, in the most serene coda yet, the music alludes to the coda of the Adagio of the Eighth Symphony, and also hints at the Seventh Symphony. These bars of music conclude most live performances and recordings of the symphony, though Bruckner was insistent that they be succeeded by a fourth movement.
Symphony No. 9 (Bruckner)
1969366#28
The first commercial recording was made by Oskar Fried with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra in 1924 for Polydor. Along with Symphony No. 4, the Seventh is the most popular Bruckner symphony both in the concert hall and on record.
Symphony No. 7 (Bruckner)
2052551#45
Many (alleged) utterances by Bruckner concerning his Ninth Symphony have only survived indirectly. Bruckner, fearing that he would not be able to complete his composition, was supposed to have envisioned his Te Deum as the possible end of the symphony. When the conductor Hans Richter (1843-1916) visited Bruckner, it is stated in the third part of volume IV of the Göllerich-Auer-biography: "He [Hans Richter] had scheduled Bruckner's 'Seventh' for a concert of the Philharmonic in autumn and now came to the Belvedere [Bruckner's last apartment was in the so-called Kustodenstöckl of the Belvedere Palace in Vienna] to tell it Bruckner. When Bruckner also communicated to him about his misery over the unfinished 4th movement of the 'Ninth', Richter gave him, as Meissner reports [Anton Meissner was Bruckner's close confidant and also secretary], the advice to complete the symphony, instead of a fourth movement with the Te Deum. The Master was very grateful for this suggestion, but he looked at it only as a last resort. As soon as he felt reasonably better, he sat down at the piano to work on the finale. He now seemed to think of a transition to the Te Deum and promised, as Meissner relates, a tremendous effect on the far-reaching main theme, blasted out by the brass choir, and on the familiar and original introductory bars of the Te Deum, as well as on the singers appearing there. He wanted, as he told Meissner a few times during audition, to shake, as it were, to the gates of eternity'."
Symphony No. 9 (Bruckner)
2052551#64
Many (alleged) utterances of Bruckner concerning his Ninth Symphony are only indirectly handed down. Bruckner, fearing that he would not be able to cope with the composition, was supposed to have envisioned his Te Deum as the possible end of the symphony. On the occasion of a visit by the conductor Hans Richter (1843-1916) to Bruckner, this is stated in the third part of volume IV of the Göllerich / Auer biography: "This [Hans Richter] had Bruckner's 'Seventh' for a concert of the Philharmonic and now came to tell him this in Belvedere [Bruckner's last apartment was in the so-called Kustodenstöckl the Belvedere Palace in Vienna]. When Bruckner also told him his grief over the unfinished sentence of the 'Ninth' Richter gave him, as Meissner reports [Anton Meissner was Bruckner's close confidant and secretary], the council, to complete the Symphony instead of a fourth movement with the Te Deum. Master was very grateful for this suggestion, but he looked at it only as a last resort. As soon as he felt reasonably better, he sat down to the piano to work on the Finale. He now seemed to think of a transition to the Te Deum and promised, as Meissner relates, a tremendous effect on the far-reaching main theme, blasted out by the brass choir, and on the familiar and original introductory bars of the Te Deum, as well as on the singers appearing there. He wanted, as he told Meissner several times during audition, as it were, to shake the gates of eternity'."
Symphony No. 9 (Bruckner)