Symphony No. 3 (Bruckner)
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Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 3 in D minor (WAB 103) was dedicated to Richard Wagner and is sometimes known as his "Wagner Symphony". It was written in 1873, revised in 1877 and again in 1891.
In 1873, Bruckner sent both his Second and Third symphonies to Wagner, asking him to pick one he preferred. The next day, Bruckner visited Wagner to ask him his choice, but the two drank so much beer together that upon arriving home Bruckner realized that he had forgotten which one Wagner had chosen. He wrote a letter back to Wagner saying "Symphony in D minor, where the trumpet begins the theme?". Wagner scribbled back "Yes! Best wishes! Richard Wagner." Ever since then, Wagner referred to Bruckner as "Bruckner the trumpet" and the two became firm friends. In the dedication, Bruckner referred to Wagner as "the unreachable world-famous noble master of poetry and music".
The premiere of this Symphony was given in Vienna in 1877, with Bruckner himself conducting. The concert was a complete disaster: although a decent choral conductor, Bruckner was a barely competent orchestral director: the Viennese audience, which was not sympathetic to his work to begin with, gradually left the hall as the music played. Even the orchestra fled at the end, leaving Bruckner alone with a few supporters, including Gustav Mahler, who with Rudolf Krzyzanowski prepared a piano duet version of the work.
Stunned by this debacle, Bruckner made several revisions of his work, leaving out significant amounts of music. The original 1873 score was not published until 1977, but today there is a gradually evolving consensus, spurred by magnificent recordings by pioneers such as Georg Tintner and Johannes Wildner, that the original version is the finest.
Despite being very critical of this Symphony, Robert Simpson quoted a passage from the first movement, rehearsal letter F, in his own Symphony No. 9. Simpson later modified his critical view (expressed in the 1966 edition of his The Essence of Bruckner) after encountering the 1873 version, which he described in a programme note for the Royal Philharmonic Society in 1987 as '...a great work - not perfect by any means but possessing a majestic momentum the later revisions altogether destroyed.'
Symphony No. 3 was a favorite of conductor Hans Knappertsbusch.
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[edit] Description
The symphony has four movements:
- Gemäßigt, mehr bewegt, misterioso (also Mehr langsam, misterioso) D minor.
- Adagio. Bewegt, quasi Andante E-flat major
- Scherzo. Ziemlich schnell (also Sehr schnell) D minor.
- Finale. Allegro (also Ziemlich schnell) D minor
[edit] Instrumentation
The symphony requires an instrumentation of one pair each flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, with four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, timpani and strings.
[edit] Versions
[edit] 1873 Version
This was the version that Bruckner sent to Wagner for his approval. Available in an edition by Leopold Nowak (published 1977), which is based on Wagner's fair copy.
[edit] 1876 Adagio
Available in an edition by Nowak (published 1980)
[edit] 1877 Version
Available in an edition by Nowak (published 1981)
[edit] 1878 Version
Available in an edition by Oeser (published 1950)
[edit] 1889 Version
Available in an edition by Nowak (published 1959)
[edit] 1890 First Published Version
Edited by Rättig. There is some controversy over how much this, the first published edition, reflected Bruckner's wishes, and how much it was influenced by Josef and Franz Schalk
[edit] Discography
The first commercial recording of part of this symphony was made by Anton Konrath with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in 1928. It featured only the scherzo and trio.
The oldest complete performance preserved on disc is by Eugen Jochum with the Hamburg State Theatre Orchestra from 1944.
The first commercial recording of the complete symphony was made by Leopold Ludwig and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1953. The recording, from a live concert, was issued by the Allegro-Royale label giving the conductor the pseudonym "Gerd Rubahn". [1] It used the newly-published 1878/Oeser edition.
[edit] Notable recordings
- Hans Knappertsbusch conducting the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra, live performance, Munich, 1954 (multiple labels) (1890/Raettig version)
- Hans Rosbaud conducting the South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, studio recording, 1960 (Arkadia) (1889/Nowak version)
- Bernard Haitink conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra, studio recording, 1963 (Philips) (1878/Oeser version)
- Carl Schuricht conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, studio recording, 1965 (EMI/Preiser) (1890/Raettig version)
- George Szell conducting the Cleveland Orchestra, studio recording, 1966 (Sony/CBS) (1890/Raettig version, although the CD liner notes falsely state that it is the 1889/Nowak version)
- Karl Böhm conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, studio recording, 1970 (Decca/London) (1889/Nowak version)
- Eliahu Inbal conducting the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (Warner Classics) 1983 First recording of the 1873 version
- Sergiu Celibidache conducting the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, live performance, 1987 (EMI) (1889/Nowak version)
- Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle, studio recording, 1990 (Deutsche Grammophon) (1877/Nowak version)
- Georg Tintner conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, studio recording, 1998 (Naxos) (1873/Nowak version)
- Stanisław Skrowaczewski conducting the Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra, studio recording, 1996 (Arte Nova/Oehms Classics) (1889/Nowak version)
- Johannes Wildner conducting the New Philharmonic Orchestra of Westphalia, studio recording (SonArte/Naxos) (Naxos includes both the 1877 and 1889 versions; SonArte includes all three of the 1873, 1877 and 1889 versions)
