For the Glory of God

Donald Macleod examines how Bruckner’s character was forged through his strict religious upbringing.

From our modern perspective, it can be difficult to appreciate why it took so long for Anton Bruckner to be recognised as one of the leading musical voices of the 19th century. His spectacular symphonies regularly pack out concert halls today, but his own era took many decades to warm to his music. Only in his sixties did Bruckner begin to achieve the popularity he deserved and, even then, he retained a reputation as a bit of an oddball. Colleagues were disturbed by his unsophisticated manners, unquestioning religious devotion and peculiar personal habits. His tendency to see enemies all around regularly tested his relationships. His romantic choices were routinely disastrous.

This week, Donald Macleod marks the 200th anniversary of Bruckner’s birth by examining Bruckner’s lifelong struggle to become the great composer we know today.

Today, Donald looks at Bruckner’s early career at the Abbey of St Florian in Upper Austria and how it nurtured within him obedience, humility and an all-consuming faith.

Mass No 2 in Em (Kyrie)
La Chapelle Royale
Collegium Vocale Gent
Ensemble Musique Oblique, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe

Symphony No 2 in C minor (1872 first Version, ed. W. Carragan) (2nd mvt, Scherzo. Schnell)
Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, conducted by Simone Young

Requiem in D Minor, (No 2, Sequentia; Dies irae)
Johanna Winkel (soprano), Sophie Harmsen (mezzo-soprano), Michael Feyfar (tenor) & Ludwig Mittelhammer (baritone)
RIAS Kammerchor Berlin,
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, conducted by Łukasz Borowicz

Symphony No 9 in D Minor, (1st mvt Feierlich, misterioso)
Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle