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Anton Bruckner (1824 - 1896) Background Anton Bruckner was born in Ansfelden in 1824, son of a village schoolmaster and organist. He showed musical ability at an early age, and entered the Augustinian monastery of St. Florian as a chorister in 1837. In 1840, he went to Linz to train as a teacher, and also learned the organ. In 1845, he found a vacancy in St. Florian and returned as an assistant teacher. The eternal student Two years later he became the official organist of St. Florian, and in 1855 he was appointed organist at Linz. By this point, Bruckner had composed many organ and choral works, including his first large-scale work, the Requiem in D minor. In that year, he began harmony and counterpoint lessons with Simon Sechter in Vienna. He finished his studies with Sechter in 1861, but was still unsatisfied with his ability to work with larger-scale forms, and felt his control of orchestration was wanting, so in 1862 he began studies with the Linz cellist and conductor Otto Kitzler. |
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First symphonies It was during his studies with Kitzler that he was first exposed to the music of Richard Wagner, who had a profound influence on his work. In 1863 he composed his first symphony, now called the 'Study' symphony in F minor. This was followed by the Symphony in D minor (now known as No. 0 'Die Nullte') in 1864, and No. 1 in 1866. In 1868 he moved to Vienna to teach at the Conservatory. Bruckner's career as an organist continued to flourish, with performances in the Notre Dame in 1869 and in London in 1871. In 1873, he dedicated his Third Symphony to Wagner, whom he had met in 1865. His friendship with Wagner, along with its subsequent influence on his music, immediately made him an enemy of the venomous but influential critic Eduard Hanslick, a staunch advocate of Brahms and musical conservatism. After overcoming Hanslick's opposition, he became a lecturer in harmony and counterpoint at Vienna University in 1875. Triumphs and tribulations He wrote his Symphonies Nos. 2-5 in the years 1871-6. The first performance of his Third Symphony by the Vienna Philharmonic in 1877 was a disaster, mainly due to the hostility of the performers, but among the very small audience was the young Gustav Mahler. It was not until the Leipzig premiere of the Seventh Symphony in 1884 that he enjoyed real public success. However, the rejection of his Eighth Symphony by the conductor Hermann Levi in 1887 again raised Bruckner's self-doubt, and he revised the symphony on the advice of friends. It was not played until 1892, when it was triumphantly premiered under Hans Richter. In the last few years of his life, Bruckner began to receive the recognition that he deserved. He completed the first three movements of his Ninth Symphony in 1891-4, but his health deteriorated, and he died in 1896 before he could complete the fourth movement, for which he left extensive sketches. Bruckner: The Man Bruckner possessed one of the most complex personalities in all music. He was an extremely devout Catholic, and there are many anecdotes about his simple, child-like beliefs - he kept a record of his daily prayers, and he would drop to his knees the moment he heard church bells toll, even if he was in the middle of a lecture. He was also, at heart, a peasant boy, who had a deep respect for the authority of the church and state - witness his continual pursuit of academic certificates and qualifications. He suffered from numeromania (an obsession with counting objects), which can be seen in the almost manic repetitions in his symphonies. And despite numerous infatuations with teenage girls that lasted well into old age, he died a . All of these traits can to a certain extent be seen in his music, but the most obvious and potent emotion expressed in the symphonies is a deep love of God and nature, and, in the words of the musicologist Robert Simpson, 'a patient search for pacification'. His eleven symphonies, most of which last over an hour, are a perfect synthesis of the tempestuous Romanticism of Wagner with Classical structure, often drawing on the folk tunes of his Upper Austrian homeland. His music has a Utopian quality - it is ultimately about Heaven, and, particularly in the last three symphonies, it is almost possible to catch a glimpse of the next world. Back to top of page |
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