Random thoughts and responses after scanning this entire thread after joining this forum yesterday:
1. I first heard Bruckner in a late-night radio broadcast in the 1950s while I was in college, and immediately became fascinated. It was the 3rd Symphony (I believe the Knappertsbusch recording on London), which is still my favorite. But to say any Bruckner symphony is "favorite" for me is hardly accurate; Bruckner is Bruckner, wherever you find him, and each symphony has its distinctive "feel." I now have recordings of all 11 Bruckner symphonies, some in multiple versions. Personally, I find the 2nd and the 6th less Brucknerian than the others, but enjoy them along with the rest.
2. I think it is rather silly to play off one composer against another, because each has his (or her) "specialties." I am also a fan of Haydn (wrote a paper on his symphonies while in college) and enjoy his clever humor. The academic intricacy of Brahms fascinates me -- and I see no Beethoven copy-catting in his music. Mahler is nothing like Bruckner; I find a lot of his symphonic music kind of sappy, or painfully slow, but I will not just write him off because he lacks Bruckner's sense of striving toward a goal. I could go on, but my point is that each composer is "doing his own thing" and just because it's not your thing is no reason to flame him, or his fans.
3. No, Bruckner was not a creative orchestrator like Mahler, Elgar, Berlioz. But neither was Schumann, because orchestration is not the point in their symphonies and fussing with the orchestration would do little to change the impact (the brass being, perhaps, the exception to this statement). Bruckner's music is "baroque" in that, as in Bach, different instruments can play the same part; it is not the timbre that matters but the structure.
4. Bruckner has a lot of memorable tunes. I often whistle Bruckner while driving, working in the yard, walking through Walmart, etc. The opening of his 3rd Symphony would make a great cell phone ring tone.
5. Bruckner himself sanctioned most of the revisions to his symphonies. Perhaps he was cowed by conductors into making cuts or changes, but having heard both the "original" and the "revised" versions in a few cases I often prefer the later versions. For example, I was so disappointed to come to the very end of Tintner's recording of the 1st Symphony and find only a timpani roll and not that wonderful trumpet fanfare that rounds it off in the (I believe) Linz version. The "original" 3rd does not seem to have the taught drama of the version usually performed. I am glad that we have access to the several versions, because each listener can decided for himself (herself) which is preferable.
6. John Berky has a lot of Bruckner downloads on his site,
www.abruckner.com. If you don't want to spend a lot of money for Bruckner recordings you can download a lot of music there, and create your own CDs from them if you like (I have made more than a dozen CDs this way.) If you donate to Mr. Berky (as you should, in appreciation) you will get occasional emails from him about items of special interest to Bruckner lovers.