Versions and editions of Bruckner's symphonies

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There have been many different versions and editions of the symphonies of Anton Bruckner.

Contents

Synopsis

TitleSurnameTonalityComposition, RevisionsEditionsDuration*
Symphony in F minor Study SymphonyF minor1863Nowak [1973]42 minutes
Symphony No. 1 Das kecke BeserlC minor1865–66 (early draft), 1866/1868, 1877/1884, 18911865–66: Grandjean [1995]
1866: Carragan [1998],
1868: Thomas Röder [2014]
1877/1884: Haas [1935], Nowak [1953]
1891: Doblinger [1893], Brosche [1980]
48–50 minutes
Symphony in D minor Die NullteD minor1869Wöss [1924], Nowak [1968]45 minutes
Symphony No. 2 Symphony of PausesC minor1872, 18731, 18761, 1877, 189221872: Carragan [2005]
1873: Carragan
1876: Carragan
1877: Haas [1938]3, Nowak [1965], Carragan [2007]
1892: Doblinger [1892]
51–62 minutes
Symphony No. 3 WagnerD minor1873, 18744, 18765, 1877-1878, 18891873: Nowak [1977]
1874: Carragan
1876: Nowak [1980], Carragan
1877-1878: Oeser [1950], Nowak [1981]6
1889: Rättig [1890], Nowak [1959]
59–65 minutes
Symphony No. 4 RomanticE-flat major1874, 18787, 18808, 1881, 1886, 18879, 18881874: Nowak [1975], Korstvedt [2021]
1878: Haas [1936], Nowak [1981] (Volksfest Finale); Carragan, Korstvedt [2022]
1881: Haas [1936], Korstvedt [2019]
1886: Nowak [1953]
1888: Gutmann [1889], Korstvedt [2004]
60–67 minutes
Symphony No. 5 B-flat major1876-1878Doblinger [1896]10, Haas [1935], Nowak [1951]78 minutes
Symphony No. 6 A major1881Doblinger [1899]11, Haas [1935], Nowak [1952]60 minutes
Symphony No. 7 E major1883-1885Gutmann [1885], Haas [1944], Nowak [1954]65 minutes
Symphony No. 8 ApocalypticC minor1887, 188812, 1890, 1892131887: Nowak [1972], Hawkshaw [2022]
1890: Haas [1939]14, Nowak [1955]
1892: Haslinger-Schlesinger-Lienau
86–90 minutes
Symphony No. 9 (Unfinished)D minor1894Doblinger [1903]15, Orel [1932], Nowak [1951], Cohrs [2000]
Finale sketches: Orel [1934], Phillips [1994-2002]
60 minutes
~18 minutes

* According to the Anton Bruckner's Gesamtausgabe. Duration depends on the concerned version.
1variants of the 1872 version reconstituted by Carragan,2variant of the 1877 version,3"mixed version" 1872-1877,4refined variant of the 1873 version,5 Adagio edited by Nowak, other movements reconstituted by Carragan,6Scherzo with coda,7version with the new "Hunting" Scherzo and the "Volksfest Finale",81878 version with a new Finale, unpublished, revised in 1881 and 1886,9slight revision, unpublished,
10version revised by Franz Schalk, 11edition revised by Joseph Schalk,12Adagio edited by Gault and Kawasaki [2003], other movements by Carragan,13version revised by Joseph Schalk,14"mixed version" 1887-1890, 15version revised by Ferdinand Löwe.

Early published editions

The first editions of Bruckner's works published by Theodor Rättig, Albert Gutmann, Haslinger-Schlesinger-Lienau and Ludwig Doblinger during and slightly after Bruckner's lifetime tended to "incorporate orchestral retouching, alterations in phrasing, articulation, and dynamics, and added tempo and expression markings," and on occasion were cut. [1] These changes were made by Bruckner's friends and associates, and it is not always possible to tell whether the emendations had Bruckner's direct authorization. [2] These were the versions that were used for nearly all performances until the 1930s. Cooke judges all these publications as "spurious" because they "did not represent Bruckner's own intentions", while Korstvedt classifies them into three categories:

Korstvedt argues that it was not uncommon for differences to exist between the autograph manuscripts and the first publications of musical works in the late 19th century, and that while the discrepancies in Bruckner's case are "unusually pronounced" they are not "essentially aberrant." [4] He points to the example of Verdi's Falstaff , whose musical text contains substantial contributions from the leader of the orchestra of La Scala which were apparently welcomed by the composer. [4]

WorkPublishedCooke (1969)Korstvedt (2004)
First Symphony 1893SpuriousGrey area
Second Symphony 1892SpuriousGrey area
Third Symphony 1879SpuriousAuthentic
Third Symphony1890SpuriousAuthentic
Fourth Symphony 1889/90SpuriousAuthentic
Fifth Symphony 1896SpuriousNot authentic
Sixth Symphony 1899SpuriousNot authentic
Seventh Symphony 1885SpuriousAuthentic
Eighth Symphony 1892SpuriousGrey area
Ninth Symphony 1903SpuriousNot authentic

Notable editors

Robert Haas

Robert Haas produced a critical edition based on Bruckner's original scores during the 1930s, that was endorsed by the Third Reich.

Haas issued critical editions of Symphonies 1 (1877 version), 2 (1877 version), 4 (1881 version - aka 1878/1880), 5, 6, 7 and 8 (1890 version).

In 1934 Alfred Orel issued a critical edition of Symphony No. 9 and of the sketches of its Finale.
In 1950 Fritz Oeser issued a critical edition of Symphony No. 3 (1877/1878 version).

Leopold Nowak

While the Allies enforced denazification, Haas' work was frowned upon and his rival Leopold Nowak was appointed to produce a whole new edition from scratch. [5]

From the 1950s onwards, Nowak revised and re-issued the editions of Haas, Wöss, Oeser and Orel. He claimed that in the case of Symphonies No. 2 and No. 8, Haas had mixed and matched passages from an early version and a later version to create "hybrid" scores. [6] [7] However, when the manuscripts became available in microfilm, it was found that the passages that Haas had allegedly mixed in from earlier manuscripts were actually present, but crossed out in the manuscript that Haas worked with; Bruckner wrote a letter to the conductor Felix Weingartner, in which he mentioned the cut passages and hoped that they will prove "valid for posterity, and for a circle of friends and connoisseurs". [5]

Beside the 1876, 1877/1878 (re-issue with the Coda of the Scherzo) et 1889 versions of Symphony No. 3, Nowak issued the until that time forgotten, first version of Symphonies 3, 4 and 8.

In 1980 Günter Brosche re-issued the 1891 version of Symphony No. 1.

William Carragan

William Carragan [8] went on with the restitution of critical issues of Bruckner's symphonies.

In 1998 Carragan reconstituted and issued the 1866, original version of Symphony No. 1. In 2005, he reconstituted and edited the 1872 version of Symphony No. 2, as well as its intermediate versions of 1873 and 1876. He also reviewed the 1877 version of Nowak, in which he corrected some residual errors. This revision, which is conform to Bruckner's manuscript, has been recorded by Daniel Barenboim with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Carragan also reconstituted the 1874 revision of Symphony No. 3, the 1878 version of Symphony No. 4 and the 1888 variants of Symphony No. 8. As last he reconstituted the complete 1876 version of Symphony No. 3. [9]

Some convinced Brucknerians, as Eliahu Inbal, Georg Tintner and, more recently, Simone Young and Marcus Bosch, have recorded the "forgotten" first versions of Symphonies No. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8.

The 1874 revision of Symphony No. 3 and the 1888 variant of Symphony No. 8 have been premiered and recorded by Gerd Schaller, Philharmonie Festiva. [10] [11] The complete 1876 version of the Symphony was premiered by Richard Pittman and the New England Philharmonic Orchestra on 2 March 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. [9]

Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs, Benjamin Korstvedt and Paul Hawkshaw

In 2000 Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs issued a new edition of Symphony No. 9, in which he corrected some errors he had found in Nowak's edition. The premiere of Cohrs’ edition together with the sketches of the Finale issued by John Alan Phillips have been recorded by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. [12]

In 2004 Benjamin Korstvedt issued a critical edition of the 1888 version of Symphony No. 4. This version has been premiered by Akira Naito. [13]

Paul Hawkshaw has issued a new edition of the 1887 version of Symphony No. 8. This new edition has been premiered by Peter Oundjian with the Yale Symphony Orchestra on 27 October 2017. [14]

Attempts have also been made to reconstitute the original concepts of 1876-1877 of Symphony No. 5. [15] [16]

Critical edition

Symphony in F minor ("Studiensymphonie"; 1863) - Nowak (1973)

Symphony No. 1 in C minor

Symphony in D minor ("No. 0"; 1869) - Nowak (1968)

Symphony No. 2 in C minor

Symphony No. 3 in D minor ("Wagner Symphony")

Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major ("Romantic")

Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major (1876-1878) - Nowak (1951)

Symphony No. 6 in A major (1881) - Nowak (1952)

Symphony No. 7 in E major (1883-1885) - Nowak (1954)

Symphony No. 8 in C minor

Symphony No. 9 in D minor

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 7 (Bruckner)</span> Symphony by Anton Bruckner

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 9 (Bruckner)</span> Symphony by Anton Bruckner

The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, WAB 109, is the last symphony on which Anton Bruckner worked, leaving the last movement incomplete at the time of his death in 1896; Bruckner dedicated it "to the beloved God". The symphony was premiered under Ferdinand Löwe in Vienna in 1903.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 1 (Bruckner)</span>

Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 1 in C minor, WAB 101, was the first symphony the composer thought worthy of performing and bequeathing to the Austrian National Library. Chronologically it comes after the Study Symphony in F minor and before the "nullified" Symphony in D minor. The composer gave it the nickname Das kecke Beserl, and conducted its 1868 premiere. Much later, after Bruckner was granted an honorary University of Vienna doctorate in 1891, he dedicated the 1890–1891 version of the work to that institution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 2 (Bruckner)</span> Symphony by Anton Bruckner

Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, sometimes known as the "Symphony of Pauses", was completed in 1872. It was actually the fourth symphony composed by Bruckner, after the Symphony in F minor (1863), the Symphony No. 1 in C minor (1866), and the Symphony in D minor (1869).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 3 (Bruckner)</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 4 (Bruckner)</span> Symphony by Anton Bruckner

Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major, WAB 104, is one of the composer's most popular works. It was written in 1874 and revised several times through 1888. It was dedicated to Prince Konstantin of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst. It was premiered in 1881 by Hans Richter in Vienna to great acclaim.

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Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs was a German conductor, music scholar, and publicist on music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass No. 3 (Bruckner)</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Requiem (Bruckner)</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">String Quintet (Bruckner)</span> Bruckners mature chamber work

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">String Quartet (Bruckner)</span>

The String Quartet in C minor WAB 111, was composed by Anton Bruckner's in 1862 during his tuition by Otto Kitzler.

<i>Bruckner Gesamtausgabe</i>

The Bruckner Gesamtausgabe is a critical edition of the works of Anton Bruckner. Published by Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag Wien in Vienna, it comprises three successive editions.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerd Schaller</span> German conductor (born 1965)

Gerd Schaller is a German conductor, best known for his performing and recording rare works, including the first full recordings of Bruckner's output.

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References

  1. Korstvedt, p. 122
  2. 1 2 Korstvedt, p. 132
  3. Korstvedt, pp. 132–133
  4. 1 2 3 Korstvedt, p. 133
  5. 1 2 Johnson, Stephen (10 January 1996), Bruckner: guilty or not guilty?, The Independent, UK{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. Korstvedt, Benjamin M. (2000), Bruckner: Symphony No. 8, Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press, p. 105, ISBN   0-521-63537-3
  7. Watson, Derek. Bruckner Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. William Carragan - The Bruckner versions, once more
  9. 1 2 William Carragan – A New Version of the Third Symphony
  10. Symphony No. 3 in D Minor, 1874 Version by Gerd Schaller
  11. Symphony No. 8, 1888 variant by Gerd Schaller
  12. Symphony No. 9 (Cohrs' edition of 2000) and sketches of the Finale by Nikolaus Harnoncourt
  13. Symphony No. 4 (1888 Version) by Akira Naito
  14. New Edition of the Bruckner Symphony No. 8 to receive its world premiere at Yale
  15. Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Major, 1876 Version
  16. Symphony No. 5 (Original concepts) by Akira Naito
  17. About the early version of Bruckner's Symphony No. 1 by Thomas Röder

Sources