6th Symphony (Bruckner)

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Anton Bruckner's 6th Symphony in A major ( WAB 106) began on September 24, 1879 and was completed on September 3, 1881 in St. Florian .

The composer has his sixth lifetime completely only once in the orchestra rehearsal can hear, because only the two middle movements ( Adagio and Scherzo ) were publicly led by Wilhelm Jahn on 11 February 1883 in the series of the Vienna Philharmonic concerts in the large hall of the Musikverein played . The first complete performance took place on February 26, 1899 by Gustav Mahler , who intervened in the work and presented it in abridged form. Bruckner's first-hand version was heard on March 14, 1901 in Stuttgart under the direction of Karl Pohlig. Since the first print was partly badly flawed and there were no critical editions of the work for a long time, it took until October 9, 1935 for the symphony to be performed for the first time by the Dutch conductor Paul van Kempen (using the edition by Robert Haas ), as the original score dictates.

General

For a long time, Bruckner's Sixth (together with the Second ) was considered a stepchild among his symphonies - although he himself humorously described it as his “saucy”. This situation has changed positively over the decades with regard to the number of performances and this work has a permanent repertoire place today. The symphony is part of the creative process of the two previous symphonies, No. 4 in E flat major "Romantic" (1874/1880) and No. 5 in B flat major (1875) and is considered a preliminary stage to the last great upswing that Bruckner has had since composing the Te Deum (first drafts in 1881) with the following symphonies 7 , 8 and 9 in sublime size. In particular, the Adagio of the 6th Symphony serves as a model for the later composed and famous Adagio of the 7th Symphony.

The key of A major chosen by Bruckner this time lends the musical content of the work an occasionally bright timbre, which, for example, unfolds into a festive glow through the rich modulation of key relationships in the coda of the first movement.

occupation

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, bass tuba, timpani in A, D and E, first violin , second violin, viola , cello , double bass

Performance duration: approx. 56 min.

The work

1st movement: Majestoso

The first movement (“ Majestoso ”) sets the main rhythm of the work right at the beginning with sharply accented notes on “c sharp” in the violins. The main theme, which immediately sets in, is tinted darkly - as it was later in the 8th Symphony - by the cellos and double basses. The repetition of the theme sounds in full orchestral brilliance and leads to the 2nd theme, which begins in E minor with a descending bass line and whose melody develops up to the striking quintuplets . Immediately a chorale-like secondary idea emerges, which leads back to a repetition of the 2nd theme in a more powerful guise. The process ends in a transition section to the third topic (C major), which in turn allows the exposition to swing to E major in a serene and tranquil setting.

The climax of the following development coincides with the beginning of the recapitulation. A similar arrangement can also be found in the first movements of the last three symphonies. After completing the recapitulation, Bruckner writes an extended coda based on the main theme, the magnificence of which stands unparalleled in the endings of the first movements in the symphonies. Constant changes in the harmonies, as if flooded by sunlight, under the eternally pulsating rhythm lead to apotheosis in the powerfully shining A major of the final closing bars.

2nd movement: Adagio. Very solemn

The Adagio in F major with three themes impresses with its festive mood and blossoming string sound, which gives the second theme (E major, cellos, constantly emerging) its special charm. The third theme (C minor), similar in character to the episode of a funeral march, is short and in the recapitulation forms the transition to the broad coda in which the sound of strings completely dominates. The movement closes dreamy and transfigured (in this not unlike the Adagio of Schumann's Second ).

3rd movement: Scherzo. Not fast - trio. Slowly

The Scherzo in A minor (form: ABA) has a throbbing basic rhythm, part A is lightened in the course and ends with thunderous fanfares in A major. The trio (Part B, Slow ) begins in an original way with pizzicato bars of the strings and answering horn calls . A sudden secondary idea of ​​the woodwind reminds of the main theme of the first movement of the 5th symphony. After the quietly fading trio part, part A of the scherzo is repeated.

4th movement: Moved, but not too fast

The finale begins in A minor, which soon gives way to a festive major, and introduces three thematic groups, of which the second group again comes up with a blossoming string sound. A short quotation from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde is also noteworthy : In bars 327 ff. The horns intone the beginning of “Isolde's love death”. The basic style of the movement is cheerful and ends with a short quote from the main theme from the first movement.

Frames

Like the 7th Symphony , Bruckner left his Sixth in its original form. There are therefore no second or third versions.

dedication

Bruckner dedicated the 6th symphony to his landlord, the professor of philosophy Ritter von Oelzelt-Nevin and his wife Amy, born noble von Wieser.

Printed editions

The first edition - edited by Cyrill Hynais - differs relatively little from the manuscript; if you take the 4th and 5th for comparison. However, from the beginning there were many small but very annoying differences between the score and parts, which August Göhler criticized as early as 1919 and therefore demanded a solid Bruckner Complete Edition. As a result, the work, which in any case hardly corresponds to the current scheme of the typical Bruckner symphony, was a very rare guest in concerts. All other editions available at the time suffered from the same errors.

The establishment of the symphony by Gustav Mahler, who conducted the first complete performance, which is often mentioned in Bruckner literature, can no longer be found.

After the protection period had expired - 30 years at the time - Josef Venantius von Wöss published a carefully revised edition in 1927 in which these errors had been eliminated. Franz Schalk performed this version several times with the Vienna Philharmonic.

In 1930 Schalk revised this score on the basis of the manuscript in the Vienna National Library and added some tasteful and very well thought-out retouches to the score. This version, based on the original, was heard in Munich in 1930 on the occasion of the Bruckner Festival. Siegmund von Hausegger reported on a late insight by Franz Schalk, who admitted to him several times in conversation that he had often gone too far with Bruckner. Unfortunately, the imminent death of Franz Schalk prevented him from continuing to deal with the original. (Hausegger had to take over the performance of the original version of the 9th Symphony intended for him.)

Both Robert Haas and Leopold Nowak have documented and acknowledged the Schalk facility in excerpts in their respective audit reports.

The two Urtext editions of the Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag Wien (Haas / Nowak) hardly differ from each other.

Thanks to the good editions of Haas and Nowak, this work has become quite popular. The fact that this is one of Bruckner's shortest symphonies was also helpful, which is not unjust to the audience and also to the orchestras.

The 2016 edition of the Anton Bruckner Urtext Complete Edition presented by Benjamin Gunnar Cohrs takes into account for the first time the complete orchestral material from the - unfortunately incomplete - world premiere that was fortunately found in Sankt Florian and was able to eliminate some inaccuracies. (Bruckner, for example, often forgot to include details such as missing pizzicati and accents in the new version when he replaced entire slurs in a score.)

Discography (selection)

literature

Web links