, I. , f. Symphony No. 4. Original Orchestration. Playecl by the SAXONIAN STATE ORCHESTRA. Concluctecl by KARL BOHM M-331

Transcription

1 rlt-m-_-.-t_p-,t-._...._tl.._.._ '_"_" " _"_M_"_'_"_ '_"_M_"~, '., f )\ntn Bruckner t Symphny N. 4 in E Flat Majr ( "R mantlc. ') Original Orchestratin i Playecl by the SAXONAN STATE ORCHESTRA Cncluctecl by.. KARL BOHM M-331 NORMAN H. ROBERTS M-331 ( ) DM-331 ( ) ~ ~ ~11_1_11_"--' tl " "..,

2 Antn Bruckner ( ) 113 ECAUSE he came f a line f schlmasters it seemed inevitable that Antn Bruckner shuld fllw in the ftsteps f his frbears. But Nature had endwed the lad with unusual musical gifts, s that when he began preparing himself fr the wrk f teaching, his musical talent elbwed its way t the fregrund with an urgency t strng t be ignred. At the age f twelve he attended the Jesuit Abbey f St. Flrian, and n dubt much f the lftiness and magnitude f his cmpsitins were the result f pis life there.. At the age f twenty-five Bruckner was appinted rganist f the Cathedral at Linz. Here he became friendly with Kitzler, cnductr f the pera, whse extensive experience was f great benefit t him. Kitzler intrduced Bruckner t the music f Wagner-a shrine at which the cmpser never ceased t wrship. During the years his fame grew slwly but steadily. n 1867 he was made prfessr f rgan, cunterpint, and cmpsitin at the Vienna Cnservatry. Later he was appinted lecturer n music _thery at the Vienna University. A grup f his admirers helped establish him further, in the face f the ppsing Brahms factin, wh particularly disliked him because they regarded him nt nly as an adherent f Wagner, but als accused him f attempting t apply Wagner's theries t symphnic art. While it is true that in many instances a resemblance t Wagner is evident, it has been prved that bth men fttimes had the same musical idea, Bruckner in sme cases having had it first. Be that as it may, the grandeur f Bruckner's music is undeniable. t is different. And that is perhaps the reasn why it has been lng in mving frm the realm f infrequent perfrmance t the place n rchestral prgrams it s richly deserves. Bruckner's music is nt identified by the characteristics that mark symphnic wrks f the 19th century. While nt lacking in lyrical and dramatic tuches, it is essentially epic. Tw distinguishing features are utstanding, an expressin f rustic naivete, the result f atavism; and a religius ecstasv which had its rigin in the cathedral rgan,. the mass, and ther cntributing influences f his envirnment at St. Flrian. His symphnies are nt the sensuus, amrus expressins f a highly nervus nature; they are nt vehemently revlutinary like Beethven; nr are they flavred with the sweetness f Schubert. ' They are mre like the utpurings f sme frthright medieval believer, disturbed nw and then by the trment f dubt and despair. BRUCKNER'S FOURTH SYMPHONY t has been knwn fr sme time amng students f Bruckner that the scres frm which his wrks have been played, as well as the miniature scres, varied in certain respects frm the manuscripts. The nature, the full extent, and even the causes f these differences between the manuscripts and the printed sctes and parts are nt yet

3 all knwn, but the publicatin f several vlumes f the Critical Cmplete Editin f Bruckner's wrks f the Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag f Vienna, under the editrship f Rbert Haas and Alfred Orel has revealed in the lder scres a mass f editings, discrepancies, alteratins and falsificatins withut precedent r parallel in the histry f music. t is as well here briefly t review the relatin between the scres by which Bruckner's Symphnies have hithert been knwn and upn which the existing estimate f him has been based, and the recent published scres which are held t be authentic Bruckner, "funded n the last knwn wishes f the cmpser." The ld scres are the result f editings made by at least three men-franz Schalk, his brther Jsef, and Ferdinand Lewe. Bruckner's simplicity and servility are prverbial- in his na'ive gratitude he tipped Hans Richter a thaler fr cnducting the first perfrmance f this Furth Symphny. Bruckner was nt well treated by the majrity f his Viennese cntempraries. Brahms despised him, and Hanslick, as the avwed anti-wagnerian and lud-speaker f the Brahms party, saw t it that Bruckner was well and thrughly damned in the mst widely read sectin f the Viennese press. Bruckner had a small but brilliant grup f admirers wh regarded him as Wagner's symphnic cunterpart. The leading lights f this grup f yung prgressivists were Hug vvlf and the afrementined editrs f his scres. T the end f his life Bruckner lacked cmplete cnfidence in his pwer and he craved perfrmances f his music. His childlike and pathetic reverence fr men f any eminence made him wax in the hands f such cultivated and already well-knwn yung men as the Schalks and Lewe. They, fr their part, acted with the best f intentins. They were abve all things Wagnerians, their ideal f instrumentatin was that-it shuld make music sund like Wagner's, and since Bruckner's scres were nt Wagnerian enugh they altered them until they came nearer t their ideal specificatin. Their line f reasning seems t have ' been that this prcess f Wagnerizatin was the nly satisfactry and speedy way f establishing Bruckner in the esteem f the imprtant sectin f the public which shared their Wagnerian tastes. t is nt knwn with any degree f certainty t what extent Bruckner himself willingly acquiesced t these emendatins--it is, think, prbable that he wuld have agreed, t get his wrks perfrmed, t alteratins even mre drastic than thse t which the Schalks subjected his wrks: but there is evidence which leads ne t believe that he regarded the alteratins as a temprary measure. Only in the last tw years have sme f Bruckner's riginal scres been published and these recrds f the Furth Symphny are made frm the newly published Originalfassung which was first perfrmed in Germany a few mnths ag, in Austria at the Linz Festival in July 1936, and in Lndn by the Ryal Philharmnic Sciety, n Nvember 12th, Dr. Karl Bhf!l cnducted bth the German and the Lndn perfrmances. The principal imprtance f the publicatin f the authentic scres is that they cmpel a re-estimatin f each f Bruckner's rchestral wrks and f Bruckner as a cmpser. The weightiest and mst ften repeated criticisms f Bruckner have been directed at the frequent lng pauses-his habit f stpping, drawing a line and taking a deep breath befre starting again-his t frequent emplyment f pedal pints, his many changes f temp and his Wagnerian rchestratin (c.f. Prfessr

4 Tvey's suggestin that Bruckner wuld make a welcme substitute in the cncert repertire fr bleeding chunks f butcher's meat chpped frm Wagner's peras). Nearly all these charges upn which Bruckner has been arraigned and cndemned are the faults f his editrs, nt f Bruckner himself. He had his faults, but they were nt thse fr which he has been blamed, and the publicatin f the new scres and f these recrds are mst imprtant steps t the revaluatin f a great cmpser lng neglected, underestimated and misunderstd in this cuntry. FRST MOVEMENT (Bewegt, nicht zu schnell) The Symphny pens magically. Over pianissim string tremls a sl hrn plays the theme. Search where yu will thrugh symphnic literature there is n wrk which begins mre impressively than this: even Brahm's greatest admirer says "at n time ught it t have been pssible nt t recgnize that the pening f the Symphny is a thing f extrardinary beauty and depth." This theme is sn taken ver by the wdwind with the hrns in imitatin frm which clever and impressive mdulatins lead t a subsidiary subject. This cming as it des at the fifty-first bar, is the first evidence f the energy and temp custmary in first mvements. The mixed rhythm was a favurite device with Bruckner, wh made much use f it in bth the third and eighth symphnies. ncidentally, frm bar 43 nwards almst t the intrductin f the secnd subject the ld scre is entirely different in lay-ut-the scring is s altered as t be almst unrecgnizable: the editrs als inserted a langsamer at bar 43 and a T em p at bar 51. A lng-held hrn nte leads t the secnd subject, which is tw-fld, a lvely lyrical tune in the vilas and a gayer meldy in the vilins, which Bruckner said that he had taken frm the "izibe" call f the tmtit. The rhythm and character f the subsidiary subject burst in fr a while, but give way t a repetitin f the secnd subject grup. Again the secnd subject asserts itself, nw in masterful frm, and hlds almst undisputed sway until a lng upward crescend f chrmatic string figures leads t an arresting fanfare fr the whle brass chir. The end f the expsitin is masterly. Over a sft drum rll n B flat vitality seems t ebb, the secnd theme falls slwly int fragments and animatin is almst entirely suspended. The develpment begins with chrmatic scales frm the strings with sft eches f the first theme in the wdwind, after which mre chrmatic passages, nw frm the flutes and clarinets, usher in the same idea in F majr. This is magnificently develped in cnjunctin with its subsidiary theme. nversins are, as was Bruckners's wnt, there in plenty, but nly an academic devid f aesthetic sense wuld prtest against Bruckner's free, emplyment f this device in the light f the results he btains with it. The climax f this sectin is the statement f the chief subject nw amplified t the prprtins f a mighty chrale. There is nt here the space fr analysis f the remainder, f the mvement, neither wuld it much prfit the listener. With the freging material Bruckner builds up a recapitulatin and a cda f awe-inspiring majesty and grandeur.

5 SECOND MOVEMENT (A ndante quasi Allegrett) The slw mvement f this symphny has much f the character f a lng funeral march. Over a rhythmic figure set in the first tw bars 'cells playa lng elegiac meldy which has a shrt but much used pendant figure. The wdwind and the vilins present cntrasting material. A deeply mving chrale-like episde fr the strings leads, via a descending chrmatic wdwind figure, t the secnd subject, sung by the vilas against a backgrund f vilins and 'cells piz;xicat. The beauty f sund in the succeeding passage has few equals in all music. Three cunter-meldies f exquisite lyrical charm are wven arund the principal theme (hrn) and as it prgresses frm C flat majr thrugh D majr t F majr and A flat majr the texture becmes ever richer until a sudden quick drp t sinister depths in the hrns and basses makes way fr a return f an earlier subject t which plaintive cries frm the be are nw added. The mvement ends with a deeply mving cda. THRD MOVEMENT (Scherx-Bewegt, B flat majr) This fine scherz was an afterthught n Bruckner's-part. Fur years after he had cmpleted the symphny (1874) he revised it, cutting ut the riginal scherz in favur f this s-called "Hunting Scherz." t begins with a delightful figure fr the hrns: A quieter cunter-theme is sn added. The frm -is simple: an expsitin ending n the dminant (F majr), a middle sectin fllwed by a repetitin f the first sectin clsing in B flat. The shrt tri is an easy ging Landler. The Scherzjs repeated after the tri, which means playing side 10 again after side 9, if the wrk is t be heard as Bruckner intended. The Schalks and Lewe tk it upn themselves t make a cut f 66 bars in the repeat f the Scherz, an excisin which Sir Dnald Tvey, believing the lder scres t be authentic Bruckner, apprved in these terms, "The da cap f the scherz vilates Bruckner's precedents in anther way by taking an extremely effective shrt cut frm the first stage f the expsitin t the beginning f the develpment, the sudden hush being highly dramatic." The alteratins in the scring f this mvement are unusually extensive even fr Bruckner's well meaning friends. Whatever their intentins they did nt lack patience and industry. FNALE (Bewegt, dch nicht xu schnell, E flat) Over a pedal n B flat which is held fr ver 40 bars, the germ f the main theme is given ut, and quickly rises in pitch, speed and intensity. The rhythm f the hrns

6 frm the Scherz cuts acrss it as it surges its way t the climax at which it suddenly assumes this marmreal frm. A secnd mighty wave f sund sweeps upward t a peak at which the first subject f the first mvement is prminent in a triumphant affirmatin f the key f E flat. The secnd subject has an affinity with the thematic material f the slw mvement, and a pair f enchantingly simple pendants and with which it is sn cmbined. An energetic tutti in which the vilins maintain figures against brilliant writing fr the brass, leads via a bridge f the secnd subject grup and Bruckner's favurite sl~ flute link-device t the develpment. This begins with an earlier subject nw inverted. Bruckner has s carefully and fully stated his material in the lng expsitin that by nw the listener knws it almst by heart and he will have n difficulty in fllwing -i its subsequent adventures and eventual glrificatin. Tt -i :r " c Tt Tt " Tt» "T» -i Tt Tt» r m c < Tt ::t Fr thse wh desire a high quality Cactus pint: THE RCA VCTOR CACTUS NEEDLE List Price 3S cents per package f 12 NORMAN H. ROBERTS RCA Victr nivi~in. RCA Manufacturing Cmpany. nc. Camden. N. J Printed in U. S. A.