Thread: I've begun a journey through Bruckner's Symphonies!

No. 4, one of the most beautiful openings of any symphony:

Originally Posted by ComposerOfAvantGarde

No. 4, one of the most beautiful openings of any symphony:

I'll come back and listen to this one after I've listened to my Karajan recording. And since I've never ever heard this opening before, I don't want to spoil it since I don't know No. 3 very well yet.

I'm always glad when people take early Bruckner seriously, because that stuff is needlessly neglected and just a slight bit less inspired than his late greatness. Also, Karajan is always excellent with Bruckner, so that's all you'll need for now, perhaps ever. Enjoy your Bruckner journey - music does not get much better than that!

Karajan and Wand are the goto guys for Bruckner

Originally Posted by ComposerOfAvantGarde

No. 4, one of the most beautiful openings of any symphony:

Yeah. Someone said this is one of the deepest and instantly compelling openings since Beethoven. From the nebulous tremolos, the horn rises, then a dialogue with the woodwinds like the call and response of a priest and congregants. But this isn't so much happening in a church; it harkens back farther than that, back to the forest, which, as Kretzschmar noted, was the first cathedral God built.

@The OP. Did you make it out alive?

The Gunter Wand/Bruckner cycle on RCA Red Seal CD (DDD) is worth collecting. It features excellent modern-day sonics by a master Bruckner conductor. Forgot to mention it's with the BPO.

Originally Posted by Manxfeeder

Hey, good listening to you! If I were you, I'd save Celibidache for after you're familiar with the more "standard" recordings. The thing about Bruckner is, he can be taken different ways - lighter and Schubertian, as with Herreweghe, or profound, like Jochum or Celibidache. And there are various shades in between. And I hope you'll meet Furtwangler eventually, especially on the 8th.

I started with Tinter's set on Naxos. Of course, it was dirt cheap back then; I don't think it is now. But he doesn't play much with the tempi, just takes the pieces as they're written. After that, I could branch out and see what the other conductors were doing in contrast.

Anyway, that was my journey. But it's still ongoing.

Tinter does seem like an appropriate start to me.

Originally Posted by neoshredder

@The OP. Did you make it out alive?

Make it out alive from what?

Anyways, I'm nearing the end of my time with the 2nd symphony. I'm surprised that none of the codas from these first two symphonies have been used in movie trailers. You know how at the end of a trailer, often there will be 20 or 30 seconds of really intense, fast-moving action, before the film title smashes onto the screen? The coda of the third movement of the 2nd symphony, for example, would be phenomenal for that. Or the coda of the first movement.

Just a random thought. :P

It was a joke. You mentioned journey. So...

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One more hearing of the 2nd (following the score with the fourth movement) before I get to know the 3rd better! I'm excited about that because he wrote it for Wagner.

You've got some mighty fine listening racked up there, Mac. Wait till you get to the 4th! I remember about 30 years ago when I got a box set of Bohm conducting 7 and 8. Man! I played the living daylights out of those records! It was right after Wagner made me a classical music fan for life.

Originally Posted by Frasier

I found the Celibidache incredibly slow - it must be the slowest in the market.

In terms of total running time, yes. But as far as the first movement is concerned, Christoph Eschenbach's recording for Ondine with the Orchestre de Paris is even slower. Only by a good half minute, which is barely noticeable alright, but still.

What first got me into Bruckner was the demonic opening the scherzo of the Third, 1873 version. The short string motif conversing with the bass pizzicati. I had received the CD as a gift and listened to it somewhat unattentively, but as the scherzo began, I thought, Wait a second, what was that?

It doesn't seem as spine-tingling anymore, but I'll always remember that.

Originally Posted by Andreas

In terms of total running time, yes. But as far as the first movement is concerned, Christoph Eschenbach's recording for Ondine with the Orchestre de Paris is even slower. Only by a good half minute, which is barely noticeable alright, but still.

What first got me into Bruckner was the demonic opening the scherzo of the Third, 1873 version. The short string motif conversing with the bass pizzicati. I had received the CD as a gift and listened to it somewhat unattentively, but as the scherzo began, I thought, Wait a second, what was that?

It doesn't seem as spine-tingling anymore, but I'll always remember that.

This reminds me of that moment in the 4th movement of Schumann 4, which got me listening to the whole symphony. That unison brass statement, followed by that terrifying, crescendoing V9 chord... I was like "what just happened!??" and then I got to know the whole symphony, haha.

Originally Posted by macgeek2005

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One more hearing of the 2nd (following the score with the fourth movement) before I get to know the 3rd better! I'm excited about that because he wrote it for Wagner.

If you like Wagner, you will like the increased role of the horns in the 3rd. But you'll be blown away when you get to symphs 7, 8, 9. Thats when Bruckner discovered the Wagner Tuba.