[SACD-R][OF] Bruckner - Symphonies Nos. 4-6 (Berliner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester der Bayerischen Rundfunks, Eugen Jochum) [3 SACDs] (Tower Records PROC-2289/91) - 1958-1966/2020 (Classical)

DG 139 134

Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major
Anton Bruckner's Fourth Symphony, known as the "Romantic", which he composed in 1874 and substantially revised between 1878 and 1880, has always been the most popular of all his works. During Bruckner's lifetime the Fourth, together with the Seventh, received more performances than any of his other symphonies; the world première of the Fourth, which took place in Vienna on the 20th February 1881, was a great success (especially striking after the failure of the Third), and Bruckner considered this to be the "most understandable" of his works. Undoubtedly the popularity of this Symphony derives from its well-judged formal structure, its mode of expression, the immediacy of its melodic ideas, and the radiance of its tone colours. The fact that the "Romantic" represents in some ways a turning point in its composer's symphonic writing is indicated initially by "technical" details: it is not only Bruckner's first symphony in a major key (the five preceding symphonies are all in minor keys), but also his first symphonic work in which the alternation of major and minor, above all the blending of their characteristic moods- particularly the overclouding of major tonality by elements of the minor, so characteristic of romantic harmony- has become so prominent that it ranks as a constructive principle. It is within the bounds of possibility that it was partly this aspect of the work, combined with Bruckner's predilection for the sound of horns and for a sense of mystery, which caused him to give this Fourth Symphony the name "The Romantic", with its many shades of meaning. It would scarcely be possible to overlook the strong affinity which this Symphony has with the early romantic sound world of Schubert and Weber, while on the other hand it also bears witness to the powerful influence of Wagner, especially in the outer movements (to mention only one example, the splendid chorale-like brass passage in the Development of the first movement, 18 bars after K).
In the case of the Fourth Symphony the question inevitably arises concerning the programmatic associations of Bruckner's symphonic writing. In conversation with his friends and in letters, Bruckner later made hermeneutic explanations (or rather suggestions) concerning this work. As with the Eighth, these do not by any means constitute an organized programme, and they are of far less importance than the work's purely musical contents. In conjunction with other observations, however, they indicate that extra-musical impulses played a certain part in the process of composition. This is true, for example, as regards the lyrical second theme of the first movement (at B), whose motif kernel, the three notes F²-F²-A♭¹, Bruckner referred to as the chirping ("zi-zi- bee") of the forest tomtit, while the counter-melody of the viola expresses, according to Th. Helm, "one's own feeling of joy at being able to listen to such charming voices of nature in the woods". Pictorial images also seem to have influenced Bruckner when he composed the hunting Scherzo and the Finale, to which he gave the title "Popular Festival" in the first revision of 1878. A comparison with Beethoven's "Pastorale" inevitably suggests itself, despite the fact that the elements of tone poetry in the Fourth are of an entirely different order. While the extra-musical impulses are of undoubted importance, the "Romantic" cannot be considered an out-and-out German programmatic symphony: both the formal layout of the work and its entire construction contain, apart from a few motif ideas, no peculiarities or anomalies which can be explained only by reference to a detailed programme. Typically enough, Bruckner's outline of the first movement gives no more than a general idea of the ideas behind it: "Medieval town - dawn - morning calls are heard from the towers - the gates open - knights ride out on proud horses, the magic of the woodland surrounds them - forest murmurs - birdsong - so the romantic picture unfolds itself. It is evidently on the basis of this programmatic sketch that the "Romantic" has been described as a "Forest Symphony", and its contents are sometimes considered to represent the "mysticism of nature".
In the C minor Andante the unmistakable features of a funeral march come to the fore. They give the elegiac principal subject its character, while the transitional section (if the passage at B may be so described) and second theme (i.e. the expressive viola melody with pizzicato accompaniment) are chorale-like. Of the two climaxes in the principal theme (at E in the Development and at M in the Coda) the second is far greater in intensity than the first.
The Scherzo and Trio of the original version were replaced by entirely new pieces when the work was revised in 1878. The somewhat impressionistic B flat major Scherzo of the final version, which is based on two themes, is far more than a mere hunting piece, and even the far simpler, surprisingly delicate, ländler-like Trio in G flat major belongs to a realm of expression far removed from that suggested by the original heading of the piece "Dance tune at mealtime on the hunt".
The Finale exists in no fewer than three different versions. At the last revision of 1880 this movement was so drastically rewritten that it completely lost the cheerful character which it had possessed in the first version. Not only were several of the original melodic ideas replaced by new, sometimes dramatic and even demoniac elements, but certain sections took on darker colouring, and therefore wholly different characteristics. Among other new features there is the return of the horn fanfares from the Scherzo during the extensive crescendo which introduces the weighty principal theme of the Finale, played in unison. The very idea of transferring the earlier title "Popular Festival" to this movement, which is now full of strong contrasts and powerful tensions, would be strikingly ironical.

DG 138 004/5

Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major
Anton Bruckner wrote his Symphony No. 5 in B flat major in 1875/76, i.e. soon after the completion of his "romantic" Fourth, but owing to some revisions by the composer it was not really finished until some years later. Subsequently the score fell into the hands of editors whose instrumentational changes and cuts - especially in the finale - as well as other alterations did much harm to the work. Restitution of the original version has helped to gain a clear view of its pellucid structure and peculiar characteristics. Bruckner himself called the B flat major Symphony his "contrapuntal masterpiece", and on another occasion his "fantastic" symphony. And indeed, all the difficulties, disappointments and suffering of the composer who had often felt misunderstood in Vienna, have left their indelible mark in this monumental work. Bruckner never heard the Symphony played; the first performance did not take place until April 8th 1894 under Franz Schalk in Graz, and Bruckner, already in poor health, was unable to attend. Two years later he died, and another two years passed before the work was given a performance in Vienna under Ferdinand Loewe, whilst Berlin heard it the same year conducted by Arthur Nikisch. Today the B flat major Symphony has become better known, but has not, so far, approximated the "popularity" of the fourth or seventh symphony.
That this is so may, among other reasons, be due to the exceptional size of the work, especially in its original form. A general survey of the work will immediately reveal a lucidity of structure. The four movements are arranged in pairs according to their key: the two outer movements in B flat major, the two inner movements in D minor. All four parts are, moreover, connected by a similar design of thematic interrelation. On an Adagio-introduction, still groping in characteristic Bruckner fashion but already illuminated by the chorale-theme, follows the Allegro, consisting of three groupes of themes. The powerful motto theme is soon in evidence. It reappears in the finale after the Adagio-introduction has once more been quoted, and is in turn succeeded by the opening sentence of the extensive second movement (Adagio). This solemn lyrical movement, permeated by grief but also offering consolation, provides at the same time a thematic link with the Scherzo (Molto vivace). The Symphony's structure-at-large as well as its thematic arrangement are thus conforming to a symmetrical pattern, which culminates in the work's cyclic rounding-off in the finale which brings an apotheosis of the first movement's principal subject.

DG 139 136

Symphony No. 6 in A major
There are several reasons why it seems more appropriate to consider Ancon Brockner's Sixth Symphony in A major, written between 1879 and 1881, as the last of his middle period symphonies, rather than following Robert Haas in numbering it with the Seventh and Eighth among the group of later symphonies. The Sixth is closely related in every stylistic respect to the Fourth and Fifth, while it is so strongly contrasted to the last three Symphonies, which are marked by notable innovations in the fields of harmony and instrumentation, that Haas's grouping appears to be definitely misleading. Admittedly the Sixth has something in common with the Seventh, namely the fact that it is in a sharp key, but this alone is scarcely sufficient to establish a close relationship between the two works. The statement that "radiant luminosity" is the dominant feature of the Sixth Symphony is really only applicable to the opening movement, whose Coda, for example (from W in the score onward), reveals an abundance of brilliant tone colours. However, the central movements are marked by less radiant, sometimes very subdued colouration, and as the Finale is unfolded, progressing by irregular stages from its minor beginning to the triumphant A major of the conclusion, it is clear that the goal "per aspera ad astra" can be attained only as the result of a hard struggle.
Considered in the light suggested by this view of the Sixth, it appears in a certain sense to represent an attempt to reconcile the partially conflicting tendencies of the two preceding Symphonies. While the "Romantic" is distinguished above all by its radiant brightness, and the Fifth, on the other hand, demonstrates far stricter discipline (a contrast based on the adoption in the two works of different stylistic media), the Sixth, in which the presence of a strongly individual character cannot be denied, is nevertheless marked by the existence side by side of contrasting modes of expression. This is especially true of the opening movement, whose first and third groups of themes point unmistakably to the corresponding features in the first movement of the Fourth Symphony, while the highly expressive second group, marked by its polyrhythmic construction and intervals of a seventh, is close to the subject matter of the Adagio in the Fifth. Luminosity is less characteristic of the F major Adagio of the Sixth, which is also based on three themes in the manner of sonata form. Here the brightly oscillating second theme is preceded and followed by two darker-toned thematic groups, one of which, despite oppressive "sighing" figures, rises to hymnic climaxes, while the other has unmistakable characteristics of a funeral march. The strange Scherzo in A minor is noteworthy for, among other things, its Acolian colouring, while a feature worth noticing in the C major Trio is its quotation from the first movement of the Fifth Symphony. Abrupt contrasts determine the construction of the Finale. These contrasts not only mark the different thematic groups, but even split the first subject into two part, and create highly dramatic effects in the Development. Unquestionably the skilfully varied introduction into the Finale of the sighing figures from the Adagio bears witness to a tone-poetic intention.