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Symphony No. 9 (Bruckner)
Encyclopedia
Anton Bruckner
's Symphony No. 9 in D minor is the last Symphony upon which he worked, leaving the last movement incomplete at the time of his death in 1896. The symphony was premiered under Ferdinand Löwe
in Vienna
in 1903, after Bruckner's death. Bruckner dedicated this symphony "to the beloved God
" (in German
, "dem lieben Gott").
(While it may seem logical to call this work "Symphony in D minor, opus posthumous," that usually refers to the Symphony No. 0 in D minor
).
, although the fourth is incomplete and fragmentary. Of this finale, it seems that much material in full score may have been lost very soon after the composer's death, and therefore large sections exist only in two-stave sketch format. The placement of the Scherzo second, and the key, D minor
, are only two elements this work has in common with Beethoven
's Ninth Symphony
.
The symphony is so often performed without any sort of finale that some authors describe "the form of this symphony [as] ... a massive arch, two slow movements straddling an energetic Scherzo."
The score calls for three each of flute
s, oboe
s, clarinet
s in B-flat and A (Adagio only), bassoon
s, with eight horns
(5.–8. Hrn. doubling on Wagner tuba
s), three trumpet
s in F, three trombone
s, contrabass tuba
, timpani
and strings
.
development and recapitulation finds its fullest realization in this movement, the form of which Robert Simpson
describes as "Statement, Counterstatement and Coda." An unusually large number of motifs are given in the first subject group, and these are substantially and richly developed on restatement and in the coda. Bruckner also cites material from his earlier works: at a point near the coda, Bruckner quotes a passage from the first movement of his Seventh Symphony
. The concluding page of the movement, in addition to the usual tonic (I) and dominant (V) chords, given out in a blaze of open fifths, uses a Neapolitan flat (ii) in grinding dissonance with both I and V.
The Trio is in the remote key of F-sharp major, and unusually fast in tempo for a Trio.
- a quote of the Kyrie of Mass No. 3
- introduces the repeat of the first theme, which is underlined by dramatic trombone appeals. Shortly after, Bruckner made too, as a kind of supplication, a quote of the Miserere nobis from the Gloria of his Mass in D minor
. The following final climax, given by full orchestra, concludes on the most dissonant chord. 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
. It is these measures of music which conclude most live performances and recordings of the symphony, though Bruckner was insistent that they be succeeded by a final, fourth movement.
Because of Bruckner's individual composing habits, reconstructing the Finale is in some ways easier, and in some ways harder, than it would be to reconstruct an unfinished piece by another composer. Compounding the problem, collectible hunters ransacked Bruckner's house soon after his death. Sketches for the Finale have been found as far away from Austria as Washington D.C.
Large portions of the movement were almost completely orchestrated, and even some eminent sketches have been found for the coda (the initial crescendo/28 bars, and the progression towards the final cadence
, even proceeding into the final tonic pedalpoint/in all 32 bars), but only hearsay suggesting the coda would have integrated themes from all four movements: The Bruckner scholars Max Graf and Max Auer reported that they have actually seen such a sketch when they had access to the manuscripts, at that time in the possession of Franz Schalk. Today such a sketch appears to be lost.
More importantly than the loss of the score bifolios of the coda itself, composer and Bruckner scholar Robert Simpson
asserts in his book The essence of Bruckner, is that the sketches that survive do not support the momentum to support such a conclusion. Some people think that there is no real inner continuity or coherence inherent to indicate an organically growing musical structure. But in fact, the publications of the Bruckner-Gesamtausgabe edited by John Phillips revealed that Bruckner has left an emerging autograph score, numbered consecutively bifolio by bifolio, which constituted the intact score, at least up to the beginning of the coda. Around 50% of this final phase must be considered lost today.
Bruckner knew he might not live to complete this Symphony and suggested his Te Deum
to be played at the end of the concert. The presence in the sketches of the figuration heard in quarter-notes at the outset of the Te Deum led to a supposition that Bruckner was composing a link or transition between the two works. In fact, the sketch for such a transition can be found on two bifolios of the emerging autograph score. Some people think, at best this would have been a makeshift solution. The C major
setting of the Te Deum conflicts with the D minor
setting of the rest of the symphony. Because of this tonal clash, using the Te Deum as the Finale is rarely carried out. Others think one should better follow the composer's own wish and argue against the tonal clash theory, since the Adagio ends in another key (E major
) as well.
made multiple unauthorized changes to the Symphony amounting to a wholesale recomposition of the work. In addition to second-guessing Bruckner's orchestration, phrasing and dynamics, Löwe also dialed back Bruckner's more adventurous harmonies, such as the complete dominant thirteenth chord in the Adagio. Today this version is considered an inauthentic travesty of Bruckner's intentions and is virtually never performed or recorded. It includes only the first three complete movements. It is available in recordings by Hans Knappertsbusch
and F. Charles Adler.
with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
. In the concert, the symphony was performed twice, first in Löwe's edition and then in the Orel version. It includes only the first three complete movements.
. It contains only minor differences from the Orel and Nowak editions, but corrects several printing errors and includes extensive comments in footnotes, explaining some of the editorial problems. The separate Critical Report of Cohrs contains numerous facsimili from Mvmts. 1-3.
as the finale of the Ninth Symphony, there have been several attempts to complete the symphony with a fourth movement based on Bruckner's surviving manuscripts for the Finale. Indeed, Bruckner's suggestion has been used as a justification for completing the fourth movement, since it shows (according to some scholars such as John A. Phillips), as well of the sheer existence of the Finale fragment, that the composer did not want this work to end with the Adagio.
). His 1983 completion was premiered by Moshe Atzmon
conducting the American Symphony Orchestra
at Carnegie Hall
in April 1985. The European premiere by the Utrecht Symfonie Orkest conducted by Hubert Soudant
(Utrecht, April 1985) was the first to be recorded (on LP). A copy of this LP can be downloaded. Shortly afterwards, this version was recorded for CD release by Yoav Talmi and the Oslo Philharmonic. The revision of 2006 was subsequently recorded by Akira Naito.. The further revision of 2010 has recently been recorded by Gerd Schaller.
and Giuseppe Mazzuca put together a new realization from 1983 to 1985, which was recorded 1986 by Eliahu Inbal
and fits in with Inbal's recordings of early versions of Bruckner's Symphonies. The coda of the Samale & Mazzuca realization has more in common with the corresponding passage of the Eighth Symphony than it does with the later Samale/Mazzuca/Phillips/Cohrs realization. The authors don't wish this version to be performed any longer.
. This completion proposes one way to realize Bruckner's intention to combine themes from all four movements. This version has been recorded by Johannes Wildner
for Naxos and also by Kurt Eichhorn
, with the Bruckner Orchestra in Linz, for the Camerata label.
A new, revised edition of this completion was published in 2005 by Nicola Samale and Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs (www.musikmph.de). Cohrs´ latest research made it also possible to recover the musical content of one missing bifolio in the Fugue fully from the particello-sketch. This new edition, in all 665 bars long, makes use of 569 bars from Bruckner himself. This version has been recorded by Marcus Bosch for the label Coviello Classics. A revised reprint of this was first performed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding
, Stockholm, in November 2007.
A further revision was published in 2008 and has been recorded by conductor Friedemann Layer
with the Musikalische Akademie des Nationaltheater-Orchesters Mannheim. Richard Lehnert explains the changes made for this version.
A final revision was made in 2011, in particular including an entirely new conception of the Coda.
The world premiere of this new ending was given given by the Dutch Brabants Orkest under the baton of Friedemann Layer in Breda (NL), 15 October 2011. American Premiere will be given by the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Simon Rattle
, Carnegie Hall
, New York
on 24 February 2012.
Sébastien Letocart's completion, together with the first three parts of the symphony, was recorded in 2008 by the French conductor Nicolas Couton with the MAV Symphony Orchestra of Budapest.
(1969), Hein s'-Gravesande (1969), Marshall Fine (1979) and Nors S. Josephson (1992). Josephson's completion can be dowloaded from John Berky's site.
with the New York Philharmonic
from 1934. The first commercial recording was made by Siegmund von Hausegger with the Munich Philharmonic in 1938 for HMV
. Both recordings used the Orel edition.
The inauthentic Löwe version is available on CD remasterings of LPs by Hans Knappertsbusch
and F. Charles Adler. These can be as short as 51 minutes.
A recording of the three movements in the Orel or Nowak edition on average lasts about 65 minutes, though a fast conductor like Carl Schuricht
can get it down to 56 minutes. The earliest recordings of the Orel edition were Oswald Kabasta
's live performance with the Munich Philharmonic in 1943 for the Music and Arts label, and Wilhelm Furtwängler
's live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1944 (multiple labels). After Bruno Walter
's studio recording with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra
in 1959 for Sony/CBS, the Nowak edition was preferred. The most recent Orel edition recording was Daniel Barenboim
's live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1991 for Teldec.
Recordings of Finale realizations are usually coupled with the Nowak edition for the first three movements. Some of these also include recordings of the fragments Bruckner left so that the listener may determine for himself how much of the realization is what Bruckner actually wrote and how much is speculation by the editor. Yoav Talmi's recording of the Carragan completion is one example of a recording that includes the fragments. With the exception of the Inbal recording of the Samale & Mazzuca 1987, any recording that includes a realization of the Finale occupies 2 CDs.
In 2003 Nikolaus Harnoncourt
and the Wiener Philharmoniker recorded the Ninth as well as the Finale-Fragment for BMG/RCA, but without the Coda sketches. In the same year, Naxos published a recommendable live-recording with the New Philharmonia Orchestra of Westphalia under Johannes Wildner, including the Samale-et-al-Version 1992/rev. 1996
Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
's Symphony No. 9 in D minor is the last Symphony upon which he worked, leaving the last movement incomplete at the time of his death in 1896. The symphony was premiered under Ferdinand Löwe
Ferdinand Löwe
Ferdinand Löwe was an Austrian conductor.- Biography :Löwe was born in Vienna, Austria where along with Munich, Germany his career was primarily centered. From 1896 Löwe conducted the Kaim Orchestra, today's Munich Philharmonic, where he returned from 1908 to 1914...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1903, after Bruckner's death. Bruckner dedicated this symphony "to the beloved God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
" (in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, "dem lieben Gott").
(While it may seem logical to call this work "Symphony in D minor, opus posthumous," that usually refers to the Symphony No. 0 in D minor
Symphony No. 0 (Bruckner)
This Symphony in D minor composed by Anton Bruckner was not assigned a number by its composer, and has subsequently become known by the German designation Die Nullte .-Composition:...
).
Description
The symphony has four movementsMovement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
, although the fourth is incomplete and fragmentary. Of this finale, it seems that much material in full score may have been lost very soon after the composer's death, and therefore large sections exist only in two-stave sketch format. The placement of the Scherzo second, and the key, D minor
D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C. Its key signature has one flat ....
, are only two elements this work has in common with Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Ninth Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
.
The symphony is so often performed without any sort of finale that some authors describe "the form of this symphony [as] ... a massive arch, two slow movements straddling an energetic Scherzo."
The score calls for three each of flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s in B-flat and A (Adagio only), bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, with eight horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
(5.–8. Hrn. doubling on Wagner tuba
Wagner tuba
The Wagner tuba is a comparatively rare brass instrument that combines elements of both the French horn and the tuba. Also referred to as the "Bayreuth Tuba", it was originally created for Richard Wagner's operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Since then, other composers have written for it, most...
s), three trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s in F, three trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, contrabass tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
and strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
.
First movement
Bruckner's tendency to telescope sonata formSonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
development and recapitulation finds its fullest realization in this movement, the form of which Robert Simpson
Robert Simpson (composer)
Robert Simpson was an English composer and long-serving BBC producer and broadcaster.He is best known for his orchestral and chamber music , and for his writings on the music of Beethoven, Bruckner, Nielsen and Sibelius. He studied composition under Herbert Howells...
describes as "Statement, Counterstatement and Coda." An unusually large number of motifs are given in the first subject group, and these are substantially and richly developed on restatement and in the coda. Bruckner also cites material from his earlier works: at a point near the coda, Bruckner quotes a passage from the first movement of his Seventh Symphony
Symphony No. 7 (Bruckner)
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 in E major 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...
. The concluding page of the movement, in addition to the usual tonic (I) and dominant (V) chords, given out in a blaze of open fifths, uses a Neapolitan flat (ii) in grinding dissonance with both I and V.
Second movement
The opening chord of the Scherzo, often cited as prophetic of the harmonic advances of the 20th Century, is tonally ambiguous in regard to the principal D minor tonality of the movement. It could be said that folk elements are still in evidence, as in other Bruckner scherzi, but this music is of such savagery that such naïve elements are easier to ignore, even if they were intended by the composer.The Trio is in the remote key of F-sharp major, and unusually fast in tempo for a Trio.
Third movement
Bruckner called this movement his "Farewell to Life." It begins in tonal ambiguity, and is the most troubled opening to a Bruckner adagio yet: though within bars it achieves lyrical serenity and awe. Throughout its course, the movement goes back to some of the troubled moods of the earlier movements. A dolente call by the oboeOboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
- a quote of the Kyrie of Mass No. 3
Mass No. 3 (Bruckner)
The Mass No. 3 in F minor WAB 28 by Anton Bruckner is a setting of the mass ordinary for vocal soloists, chorus, orchestra and organ. After the 1867 success of Bruckner's Mass No...
- introduces the repeat of the first theme, which is underlined by dramatic trombone appeals. Shortly after, Bruckner made too, as a kind of supplication, a quote of the Miserere nobis from the Gloria of his Mass in D minor
Mass No. 1 (Bruckner)
Mass No. 1 in D minor, WAB 26 by Anton Bruckner, is a setting of the Mass ordinary for soloists, mixed choir, orchestra and organ.Bruckner composed it in 1864, and revised it in 1876 and 1881/82...
. The following final climax, given by full orchestra, concludes on the most dissonant chord. Thereafter, in the most serene coda yet, the music alludes to the coda of the Adagio of the Eighth Symphony
Symphony No. 8 (Bruckner)
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 in C minor is the last Symphony the composer completed. It exists in two major versions of 1887 and 1890. It was premiered under conductor Hans Richter in 1892 in Vienna...
, and also hints at the Seventh Symphony
Symphony No. 7 (Bruckner)
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 in E major 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...
. It is these measures of music which conclude most live performances and recordings of the symphony, though Bruckner was insistent that they be succeeded by a final, fourth movement.
Fourth movement
Bruckner had conceived the entire movement; whether the manuscripts he left would have made up the final form of the Finale is debatable. Several bifolios of the emerging autograph score survived, consecutively numbered by Bruckner himself, as well as numerous discarded bifolios and particellos sketches. The surviving manuscripts were all systematically ordered and published in a notable facsimile reprint, edited by J. A. Phillips, in the Bruckner Complete Edition, Vienna.Because of Bruckner's individual composing habits, reconstructing the Finale is in some ways easier, and in some ways harder, than it would be to reconstruct an unfinished piece by another composer. Compounding the problem, collectible hunters ransacked Bruckner's house soon after his death. Sketches for the Finale have been found as far away from Austria as Washington D.C.
Large portions of the movement were almost completely orchestrated, and even some eminent sketches have been found for the coda (the initial crescendo/28 bars, and the progression towards the final cadence
Cadence (music)
In Western musical theory, a cadence is, "a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of repose or resolution [finality or pause]." A harmonic cadence is a progression of two chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music...
, even proceeding into the final tonic pedalpoint/in all 32 bars), but only hearsay suggesting the coda would have integrated themes from all four movements: The Bruckner scholars Max Graf and Max Auer reported that they have actually seen such a sketch when they had access to the manuscripts, at that time in the possession of Franz Schalk. Today such a sketch appears to be lost.
More importantly than the loss of the score bifolios of the coda itself, composer and Bruckner scholar Robert Simpson
Robert Simpson (composer)
Robert Simpson was an English composer and long-serving BBC producer and broadcaster.He is best known for his orchestral and chamber music , and for his writings on the music of Beethoven, Bruckner, Nielsen and Sibelius. He studied composition under Herbert Howells...
asserts in his book The essence of Bruckner, is that the sketches that survive do not support the momentum to support such a conclusion. Some people think that there is no real inner continuity or coherence inherent to indicate an organically growing musical structure. But in fact, the publications of the Bruckner-Gesamtausgabe edited by John Phillips revealed that Bruckner has left an emerging autograph score, numbered consecutively bifolio by bifolio, which constituted the intact score, at least up to the beginning of the coda. Around 50% of this final phase must be considered lost today.
Bruckner knew he might not live to complete this Symphony and suggested his Te Deum
Te Deum (Bruckner)
The Te Deum in C major WAB 45 by Anton Bruckner is a setting of the early Christian Te Deum hymn text for chorus, soloists and orchestra, and organ ad libitum...
to be played at the end of the concert. The presence in the sketches of the figuration heard in quarter-notes at the outset of the Te Deum led to a supposition that Bruckner was composing a link or transition between the two works. In fact, the sketch for such a transition can be found on two bifolios of the emerging autograph score. Some people think, at best this would have been a makeshift solution. The C major
C major
C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
setting of the Te Deum conflicts with the D minor
D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C. Its key signature has one flat ....
setting of the rest of the symphony. Because of this tonal clash, using the Te Deum as the Finale is rarely carried out. Others think one should better follow the composer's own wish and argue against the tonal clash theory, since the Adagio ends in another key (E major
E major
E major is a major scale based on E, with the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps .Its relative minor is C-sharp minor, and its parallel minor is E minor....
) as well.
Versions
Unlike most of his symphonies, Bruckner did not produce multiple revisions of his Ninth Symphony. However, there have been multiple editions of what Bruckner did write, as well as several attempts to complete the symphony's fourth movement, which Bruckner left unfinished.Löwe edition (1906)
This was the first published edition of the Ninth Symphony. It was also the version performed at the work's posthumous premiere, and the only version heard until 1932. Ferdinand LöweFerdinand Löwe
Ferdinand Löwe was an Austrian conductor.- Biography :Löwe was born in Vienna, Austria where along with Munich, Germany his career was primarily centered. From 1896 Löwe conducted the Kaim Orchestra, today's Munich Philharmonic, where he returned from 1908 to 1914...
made multiple unauthorized changes to the Symphony amounting to a wholesale recomposition of the work. In addition to second-guessing Bruckner's orchestration, phrasing and dynamics, Löwe also dialed back Bruckner's more adventurous harmonies, such as the complete dominant thirteenth chord in the Adagio. Today this version is considered an inauthentic travesty of Bruckner's intentions and is virtually never performed or recorded. It includes only the first three complete movements. It is available in recordings by Hans Knappertsbusch
Hans Knappertsbusch
Hans Knappertsbusch was a German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner and Richard Strauss....
and F. Charles Adler.
Orel edition (1932)
This was the first edition that attempted to reproduce what Bruckner actually wrote. This version was first performed in 1932 by Siegmund von HauseggerSiegmund von Hausegger
Siegmund von Hausegger was an Austrian composer and conductor.-Early life:Siegmund was born in Graz, the son of Friedrich von Hausegger , a lawyer and writer on music...
with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
The Münchner Philharmoniker is a German symphony orchestra located in the city of Munich. It is one of Munich's three principal orchestras, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian State Orchestra...
. In the concert, the symphony was performed twice, first in Löwe's edition and then in the Orel version. It includes only the first three complete movements.
Cohrs edition (2000)
This new edition of the complete three movements has been recorded by Nikolaus HarnoncourtNikolaus Harnoncourt
Nikolaus Harnoncourt is an Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of music from the Classical era and earlier. Starting out as a classical cellist, he founded his own period instrument ensemble in the 1950s, and became a pioneer of the Early Music movement...
. It contains only minor differences from the Orel and Nowak editions, but corrects several printing errors and includes extensive comments in footnotes, explaining some of the editorial problems. The separate Critical Report of Cohrs contains numerous facsimili from Mvmts. 1-3.
Completions of the fourth movement
Although Bruckner suggested using his Te DeumTe Deum (Bruckner)
The Te Deum in C major WAB 45 by Anton Bruckner is a setting of the early Christian Te Deum hymn text for chorus, soloists and orchestra, and organ ad libitum...
as the finale of the Ninth Symphony, there have been several attempts to complete the symphony with a fourth movement based on Bruckner's surviving manuscripts for the Finale. Indeed, Bruckner's suggestion has been used as a justification for completing the fourth movement, since it shows (according to some scholars such as John A. Phillips), as well of the sheer existence of the Finale fragment, that the composer did not want this work to end with the Adagio.
Carragan's completion (1983/ rev. 2003 / rev. 2006 / rev. 2010)
The first attempt of a performing version of the Finale available on disc was the one by William Carragan (who also has done work editing Bruckner's Second SymphonySymphony No. 2 (Bruckner)
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 2 in C minor was completed in 1872, and revised, like most of Bruckner's other symphonies, at various points thereafter....
). His 1983 completion was premiered by Moshe Atzmon
Moshe Atzmon
Moshe Atzmon is a Hungarian-born Israeli conductor.He was born in Budapest, and at the age of thirteen he emigrated with his family to Tel Aviv, Israel. He started his musical career on the horn before going to London for further studies in conducting....
conducting the American Symphony Orchestra
American Symphony Orchestra
The American Symphony Orchestra is a New York-based American orchestra founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski, then aged 80. Following Maestro Stokowski's departure, Kazuyoshi Akiyama was appointed Music Director of the American Symphony Orchestra from 1973-1978. Music Directors during the early...
at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in April 1985. The European premiere by the Utrecht Symfonie Orkest conducted by Hubert Soudant
Hubert Soudant
Hubert Soudant is a Dutch conductor. He played the French horn as a youth. He has won prizes in several conducting competitions, including the Besançon Young Conductor Competition and the Karajan International Conducting Competition.Soudant has held music directorships with the Utrecht Symphony...
(Utrecht, April 1985) was the first to be recorded (on LP). A copy of this LP can be downloaded. Shortly afterwards, this version was recorded for CD release by Yoav Talmi and the Oslo Philharmonic. The revision of 2006 was subsequently recorded by Akira Naito.. The further revision of 2010 has recently been recorded by Gerd Schaller.
Samale/Mazzuca completion (1987)
The team of Nicola SamaleNicola Samale
Nicola Samale , is a composer and conductor.- Biography :...
and Giuseppe Mazzuca put together a new realization from 1983 to 1985, which was recorded 1986 by Eliahu Inbal
Eliahu Inbal
Eliahu Inbal is an Israeli conductor.Inbal studied violin at the Israeli Academy of Music and took composition lessons with Paul Ben-Haim...
and fits in with Inbal's recordings of early versions of Bruckner's Symphonies. The coda of the Samale & Mazzuca realization has more in common with the corresponding passage of the Eighth Symphony than it does with the later Samale/Mazzuca/Phillips/Cohrs realization. The authors don't wish this version to be performed any longer.
Samale/Mazzuca/Phillips/Cohrs completion (1992 / rev. 1996 / rev. 2005 / rev. 2008 / rev. 2011)
For this venture Samale and Mazzuca were joined by John A. Phillips and Benjamin-Gunnar CohrsBenjamin-Gunnar Cohrs
Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs is a German conductor, scholar, and publicist on music.- Early career :Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs gave his early conducting debut 1984 with the orchestra of the Youth Music School in Hameln, where he received his early musical education since 1972...
. This completion proposes one way to realize Bruckner's intention to combine themes from all four movements. This version has been recorded by Johannes Wildner
Johannes Wildner
Johannes Wildner is an Austrian conductor.Born in Austria in 1956, Johannes Wildner studied conducting, violin and musicology and has established himself as one of the foremost Austrian conductors....
for Naxos and also by Kurt Eichhorn
Kurt Eichhorn
Kurt Peter Eichhorn , was a German conductor.Eichhorn was born in Munich, the son of a painter. He studied music at the conservatory in Würzburg with Hermann Zilcher. His conducting debut was in 1932 as a conductor and choral conductor in Bielefeld...
, with the Bruckner Orchestra in Linz, for the Camerata label.
A new, revised edition of this completion was published in 2005 by Nicola Samale and Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs (www.musikmph.de). Cohrs´ latest research made it also possible to recover the musical content of one missing bifolio in the Fugue fully from the particello-sketch. This new edition, in all 665 bars long, makes use of 569 bars from Bruckner himself. This version has been recorded by Marcus Bosch for the label Coviello Classics. A revised reprint of this was first performed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding
Daniel Harding
Daniel Harding is a British conductor.Harding studied trumpet at Chetham's School of Music and was a member of the National Youth Orchestra at age 13. At age 17, Harding assembled a group of musicians to perform Pierrot Lunaire of Arnold Schoenberg, and sent a tape of the performance to Simon...
, Stockholm, in November 2007.
A further revision was published in 2008 and has been recorded by conductor Friedemann Layer
Friedemann Layer
Friedemann Layer is an Austrian conductor. He was assistant to Herbert von Karajan in Ulm and to Karl Böhm.-Selected Discography:* Henze - Symphony No 10; 4 Poemi; La Selva Incantata. Montpellier National Orchestra...
with the Musikalische Akademie des Nationaltheater-Orchesters Mannheim. Richard Lehnert explains the changes made for this version.
A final revision was made in 2011, in particular including an entirely new conception of the Coda.
The world premiere of this new ending was given given by the Dutch Brabants Orkest under the baton of Friedemann Layer in Breda (NL), 15 October 2011. American Premiere will be given by the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Simon Rattle
Simon Rattle
Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic ....
, Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on 24 February 2012.
Sébastien Letocart's completion (2008)
In 2008 the Belgian organist and composer Sébastien Letocart made a new completion of the Finale. In the Coda he included quotations of themes from the Fifth, Seventh and Eighth Symphonies, the mid-subject of the Trio as a final Halleluja, and at the end, as originally intended by Bruckner, the themes from all four movements of the Ninth.Sébastien Letocart's completion, together with the first three parts of the symphony, was recorded in 2008 by the French conductor Nicolas Couton with the MAV Symphony Orchestra of Budapest.
Further Finale completions
Other tentative completions have been made by Ernst MärzendorferErnst Märzendorfer
Ernst Märzendorfer was an Austrian conductor. He was the first conductor to make a complete recording of the 107 symphonies of Joseph Haydn, and conducted a number of important opera premieres.-Biography:...
(1969), Hein s'-Gravesande (1969), Marshall Fine (1979) and Nors S. Josephson (1992). Josephson's completion can be dowloaded from John Berky's site.
Discography
The oldest complete performance (of the three completed movements) preserved on record is by Otto KlempererOtto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.-Biography:Otto Klemperer was born in Breslau, Silesia Province, then in Germany...
with the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
from 1934. The first commercial recording was made by Siegmund von Hausegger with the Munich Philharmonic in 1938 for HMV
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
. Both recordings used the Orel edition.
The inauthentic Löwe version is available on CD remasterings of LPs by Hans Knappertsbusch
Hans Knappertsbusch
Hans Knappertsbusch was a German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner and Richard Strauss....
and F. Charles Adler. These can be as short as 51 minutes.
A recording of the three movements in the Orel or Nowak edition on average lasts about 65 minutes, though a fast conductor like Carl Schuricht
Carl Schuricht
Carl Adolph Schuricht was a German conductor.Schuricht was born in Danzig , German Empire; his father's family had been respected organ-builders. His mother, Amanda Wusinowska, a widow soon after her marriage , brought up her son alone...
can get it down to 56 minutes. The earliest recordings of the Orel edition were Oswald Kabasta
Oswald Kabasta
Oswald Kabasta was an Austrian conductor.Kabasta was born in Mistelbach, Austria and later studied with composer Franz Schmidt. In 1931 he became head of conducting at the Vienna Academy. He also served as musical director of Vienna Radio about this time. In 1938 he became principal conductor...
's live performance with the Munich Philharmonic in 1943 for the Music and Arts label, and Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer. He is widely considered to have been one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. By the 1930s he had built a reputation as one of the leading conductors in Europe, and he was the leading conductor who remained...
's live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1944 (multiple labels). After Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter was a German-born conductor. He is considered one of the best known conductors of the 20th century. Walter was born in Berlin, but is known to have lived in several countries between 1933 and 1939, before finally settling in the United States in 1939...
's studio recording with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Columbia Symphony Orchestra
The Columbia Symphony Orchestra was an orchestra formed by Columbia Records. It provided a vehicle for some of Columbia's better known recording artists to record using only company resources.-Bruno Walter:...
in 1959 for Sony/CBS, the Nowak edition was preferred. The most recent Orel edition recording was Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, KBE is an Argentinian-Israeli pianist and conductor. He has served as music director of several major symphonic and operatic orchestras and made numerous recordings....
's live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1991 for Teldec.
Recordings of Finale realizations are usually coupled with the Nowak edition for the first three movements. Some of these also include recordings of the fragments Bruckner left so that the listener may determine for himself how much of the realization is what Bruckner actually wrote and how much is speculation by the editor. Yoav Talmi's recording of the Carragan completion is one example of a recording that includes the fragments. With the exception of the Inbal recording of the Samale & Mazzuca 1987, any recording that includes a realization of the Finale occupies 2 CDs.
In 2003 Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Nikolaus Harnoncourt is an Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of music from the Classical era and earlier. Starting out as a classical cellist, he founded his own period instrument ensemble in the 1950s, and became a pioneer of the Early Music movement...
and the Wiener Philharmoniker recorded the Ninth as well as the Finale-Fragment for BMG/RCA, but without the Coda sketches. In the same year, Naxos published a recommendable live-recording with the New Philharmonia Orchestra of Westphalia under Johannes Wildner, including the Samale-et-al-Version 1992/rev. 1996
External links
- Extensive article (35 pages) by Aart van der Wal on Bruckner's Symphony No. 9, unfinished finale
- John Alan Phillips, Bruckner's ninth revisited : towards the re-evaluation of a four-movement symphony (Thesis), The University of Adelaide, 2002
- Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs, Heinz-Klaus Metzger & Rainer Riehn (red.): Bruckners Neunte im Fegefeuer der Rezeption. Musik-Konzepte, Richard Boorberg, München, 2003. ISBN 3-88377-738-2
- Free score from the Indiana University school of music
- Article by Peter Gutmann
- Complete discography
- Another discography with reviews in French
- Bruckner symphony versions
- Bruckner Symphony No. 9 D minor ⅠClaudio Abbado Berliner Philharmoniker