Essential Bruckner

Bruckner was born in 1824 and was a choirboy, then organist, at the mighty St Florian Monastery near Linz, where he later became the cathedral organist. He studied counterpoint in Vienna, later becoming himself professor of music theory at the University. Few composers before or since have suffered at the hands of a cruel public and musical establishment, and many of Bruckner’s symphonies were mocked for their ambition and formal innovation – especially cruelly given their composer’s love of Wagner in a city torn between loyalty to Brahms or Wagner. The symphonies were as much influenced by Beethoven as Wagner, while Bruckner’s own religious conviction and experience as an organist and composer of religious music only added to their monumental quality: often compared to cathedrals in sound, they are vast structures that are built up patiently over huge spans, with sublime Adagios – some nearly lasting half an hour – invariably at their heart. Only really with his Seventh (whose slow movement serves as an elegy for Wagner) did Bruckner see success himself, but his works are now firmly established as favourites in the concert hall and on record.