August 29, 2016. Bruckner’s Third Symphony. Next Sunday, September 4th, is the birthday of Anton Bruckner, who was born in 1824. The last two years we've celebrated this date with presentations of his Fourth and Fifth symphonies. This time we’ll jump back several years and talk about what many consider his breakthrough work, Symphony no. 3. We had mentioned Bruckner’s notorious lack of confidence, his tendency to rewrite compositions over and over again. In this sense, the Third Symphony is one of the worst examples: there are six different editions of it. The first version was written in 1873. At the time Bruckner was living in Vienna, where he had moved to five years earlier from Linz. He assumed a teaching position at the Vienna Conservatory and became the organist at the Court Chapel, a prestigious but unpaid position. That year Bruckner, who adored Richard Wagner, visited him in Bayreuth and showed him the manuscripts of two symphonies, the Second and the Third, the latter still not complete. Bruckner asked Wagner which one he liked better. Wagner picked the Third, and Bruckner dedicated the symphony to him. The symphony was premiered four years later, the first performance taking place in Vienna on December 16th of 1877. By all accounts, it went badly. The conductor who was supposed to lead the orchestra, one Johann von Herbeck, died unexpectedly on October 28th of that year. Bruckner himself had to step in. He was a decent choral director but quite inexperienced with large symphony orchestras. The Third is about one hour long; the orchestra wasn’t playing well, the public was leaving in droves and by the Finale the hall was almost empty. To make matters worse, Eduard Hanslick, the influential Viennese music critic, a Brahms supporter and Wagner’s detractor, followed the performance with a scathing review. Not everybody disliked the Symphony, however: Mahler, for one, thought enough of it to arrange it for two pianos.
Bruckner started revising the symphony almost as soon as he finished it. In 1874 he created the first revision, mostly by re-orchestrating parts of it. Then, in 1876, he rewrote the second movement, Adagio. Another version followed in 1877 – that’s the version Bruckner gave to Mahler who used it for his two-piano arrangement. By mid-1880s Bruckner’s music became more acceptable. The Third Symphony was performed in several German cities and in the Netherlands, and was brought to New York (it was performed at the old Metropolitan Opera house). That didn’t stop Bruckner from tinkering with it. In 1889, twelve years after the premier, he returned to the Third and created another edition, and then, just one year later, yet another one. The version we’ll hear is from 1889. The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by one of the most interesting interpreters of the music of Bruckner, the Romanian-born Sergiu Celibidache who at the time was the Principal conductor of the Munich Philharmonic. As are all Bruckner’s symphonies, the Third is in four parts. The first movement Gemäßigt, mehr bewegt, misterioso (Moderate, more animated, mysterious) runs about 25 minutes (here); the second, Adagio, sixteen and a half (here); the third, Scherzo, is just shy of eight minute (here), and Finale, Allegro (here), is about 15 minutes long.
Bruckner’s Third Symphony, 2016
August 29, 2016. Bruckner’s Third Symphony. Next Sunday, September 4th, is the birthday of Anton Bruckner, who was born in 1824. The last two years we've celebrated this date with presentations of his Fourth
and Fifth symphonies. This time we’ll jump back several years and talk about what many consider his breakthrough work, Symphony no. 3. We had mentioned Bruckner’s notorious lack of confidence, his tendency to rewrite compositions over and over again. In this sense, the Third Symphony is one of the worst examples: there are six different editions of it. The first version was written in 1873. At the time Bruckner was living in Vienna, where he had moved to five years earlier from Linz. He assumed a teaching position at the Vienna Conservatory and became the organist at the Court Chapel, a prestigious but unpaid position. That year Bruckner, who adored Richard Wagner, visited him in Bayreuth and showed him the manuscripts of two symphonies, the Second and the Third, the latter still not complete. Bruckner asked Wagner which one he liked better. Wagner picked the Third, and Bruckner dedicated the symphony to him. The symphony was premiered four years later, the first performance taking place in Vienna on December 16th of 1877. By all accounts, it went badly. The conductor who was supposed to lead the orchestra, one Johann von Herbeck, died unexpectedly on October 28th of that year. Bruckner himself had to step in. He was a decent choral director but quite inexperienced with large symphony orchestras. The Third is about one hour long; the orchestra wasn’t playing well, the public was leaving in droves and by the Finale the hall was almost empty. To make matters worse, Eduard Hanslick, the influential Viennese music critic, a Brahms supporter and Wagner’s detractor, followed the performance with a scathing review. Not everybody disliked the Symphony, however: Mahler, for one, thought enough of it to arrange it for two pianos.
Bruckner started revising the symphony almost as soon as he finished it. In 1874 he created the first revision, mostly by re-orchestrating parts of it. Then, in 1876, he rewrote the second movement, Adagio. Another version followed in 1877 – that’s the version Bruckner gave to Mahler who used it for his two-piano arrangement. By mid-1880s Bruckner’s music became more acceptable. The Third Symphony was performed in several German cities and in the Netherlands, and was brought to New York (it was performed at the old Metropolitan Opera house). That didn’t stop Bruckner from tinkering with it. In 1889, twelve years after the premier, he returned to the Third and created another edition, and then, just one year later, yet another one. The version we’ll hear is from 1889. The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by one of the most interesting interpreters of the music of Bruckner, the Romanian-born Sergiu Celibidache who at the time was the Principal conductor of the Munich Philharmonic. As are all Bruckner’s symphonies, the Third is in four parts. The first movement Gemäßigt, mehr bewegt, misterioso (Moderate, more animated, mysterious) runs about 25 minutes (here); the second, Adagio, sixteen and a half (here); the third, Scherzo, is just shy of eight minute (here), and Finale, Allegro (here), is about 15 minutes long.