Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Donald Macleod explores five personality traits of Anton Bruckner, one of the strangest geniuses in music. Today, his unshakeable religious beliefs and his music for the Church.

Donald Macleod explores five personality traits of Anton Bruckner, one of the strangest geniuses in music. Today, his unshakeable religious belief, and his music for the Church.

The musicologist Friedrich Blume observed, 鈥淭here is no other composer in the 19th century who was rooted so firmly in a lived, heart-deep devoutness; to whom prayer, confession, sacrament and profession were vital elements to such a degree.鈥 But Bruckner didn鈥檛 just pray 鈥 he kept a daily tally of the prayers he had recited. And he had religious visions, which according to his own account gave rise to specific passages in his symphonies. From his teens, Bruckner was steeped in the church; first, as a choirboy at the Augustinian monastery of Sankt Florian in Upper Austria, not far from Linz, where he returned in his early twenties as music teacher and organist; then in Linz, where in 1856 he took up a post as Cathedral organist; and finally in Vienna, where he was organist at the Hofkapelle. Most of Bruckner鈥檚 church music 鈥 much of it unaccompanied 鈥 is on a far smaller scale than his symphonic work, but these wonderful religious miniatures often hint at a considerably larger canvas than the one they are drawn on.

Bruckner: Mass No 1 in D minor, WAB 26 (Sanctus)
The Monteverdi Choir
Vienna Philharmonic
John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Bruckner: Ave Maria, WAB 6
Tenebrae
Nigel Short, director

Bruckner: Mass No 2 in E minor, WAB 27 (1882 version) (Credo)
Polyphony
Members of Britten Sinfonia
Stephen Layton, conductor

Bruckner: Os iusti, WAB 30
Vexilla regis, WAB 51
Polyphony
Stephen Layton, conductor

Bruckner: Ecce sacerdos magnus, WAB 13
Bavarian Radio Chorus
Wolfgang Schubert, chorus master
Members of Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Hedwig Bilgram, organ
Eugen Jochum, conductor

Bruckner: Virga Jesse, WAB 52
Corydon Singers
Matthew Best, conductor

Bruckner: Psalm 150, for soprano, chorus and orchestra, WAB 38
Ruth Welting, soprano
Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

Produced by Chris Barstow for 成人快手 Wales

59 minutes

Last on

Tue 30 Oct 2018 12:00

Music Played

  • Anton Bruckner

    Sanctus (Mass No 1 in D minor)

    Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON : dg-459 674 2.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 4.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Ave Maria

    Choir: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • SIGNUM SIGCD430.
    • SIGNUM.
    • 12.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Credo (Mass No 2 in E minor)

    Choir: Polyphony. Orchestra: Britten Sinfonia. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • HYPERION : Hyperion-CDA67629.
    • HYPERION.
    • 5.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Os justi

    Choir: Polyphony. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • HYPERION : Hyperion-CDA67629.
    • HYPERION.
    • 11.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Vexilla regis

    Choir: Polyphony. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • HYPERION : Hyperion-CDA67629.
    • HYPERION.
    • 10.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Ecce sacerdos magnus

    Performer: Hedwig Bilgram. Choir: Bavarian Radio Chorus. Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Eugen Jochum.
    • DGG 457 743-2.
    • DGG.
    • 10.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Virga Jesse floruit

    Choir: Corydon Singers. Conductor: Matthew Best.
    • HYPERION : CDA66062.
    • HYPERION.
    • 8.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Psalm 150 in C major for soprano, chorus and orchestra

    Performer: Daniel Barenboim. Singer: Ruth Welting. Choir: Chicago Symphony Chorus. Orchestra: Chicago S O..
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOP : DG-437 250-2.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOP.
    • 6.

Broadcast

  • Tue 30 Oct 2018 12:00

Vaughan Williams Today

Vaughan Williams Today

Programmes, concerts and features celebrating Vaughan Williams's 150th anniversary.

Beethoven Unleashed 鈥 the box set

Beethoven Unleashed 鈥 the box set

The complete set of Radio 3 Beethoven Unleashed podcasts, with Donald Macleod.

What was really wrong with Beethoven?

What was really wrong with Beethoven?

Georgia Mann and neurosurgeon Henry Marsh examine the composer's numerous health problems

Composers A to Z

Composers A to Z

Visit the extensive audio archive of Radio 3 programmes about Composers and their works.

Who knew? Five eye-opening stories from Composer of the Week

Who knew? Five eye-opening stories from Composer of the Week

The production team reflects on 5 of Donald Macleod鈥檚 best stories from the last 20 years

Five reasons why we love Parry's Jerusalem

What is the strange power of Jerusalem which makes strong men weep?

A man out of time 鈥 why Parry's music and ideas were at odds with his image...

The composer of Jerusalem was very far from the conservative figure his image suggests.

Composer Help Page

Find resources and contacts for composers from within the classical music industry.