Anton Bruckner Postcard 1910[/caption]A humble native of Austria, Bruckner pursued music religiously and ambitiously throughout his life. He was an assidious student; unlike Mozart or Bach, he was not an acclaimed prodigy. Instead his compositions were written over long periods, and afterwards he would always habitually revise them, never feeling the sense of perfection for which he yearned, the piousness for which he prayed.
Bruckner lived during a time of division within the musical arena, one that ended up not only hurting his reputation, but more importantly his confidence and consequently his output. Brahms was the day's classicist; although the period at hand marked the beginning of the Romantic era, he brought along the traditional style of those such as Beethoven, who he was determined to succeed. Wagner was the opposite of Brahms, inovating music, mostly in the operatic form. Bruckner was one who stood behind Wagner, knowing the man personally and admiring him for his music.
It was not Brahms who put Bruckner down, however. Eduard Hanslick, a critic of music, revered Brahms as the Bach of their time; he was an ideologue of the classical form and style, and he took every chance he could to bash Bruckner's work. This certainly convinced much of the public that Bruckner, as a composer, was not able. Complaints were largely focused on the long length, instances of silence, and overall laggardness of his symphonies. His mental stability was of course affected by Hanslick's attitude, and this perhaps led to his persistant revision phases. Near the end of his life Bruckner's mental state frequently jumped outside the borders of sanity.
During his lifetime, the only respect he received was for his Symphonies No. 4 and No. 7 and for his religious choral work Te Deum. Unlike most other composers, he began writing middle-aged, near forty. He died before he was able to complete the final of the four movements of his Symphony No. 9, a work which surely would have been glorious.
It has been said that Bruckner considered the third movement of his Symphony No. 8 to be his best. Surely, if you listen to it several times, you will recognize the climax to be one of amazing length, one that keeps building and breaking, a burst of emotion only heard in such a form of music.
Klaus Vestlig
Bruckner and Adolf Hitler
According to Hitler and Goebbels, the three master composers that represented good German music were Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Wagner, and Anton Bruckner. All three composers lived prior to the 20th century.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUYZi06SFYk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOVs8gKzpxY
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 in E major (WAB 107) 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.
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