Berg, Bruckner: Teatro Comunale di Bologna

About the Event

Composed approximately in 1914, the Drei Orchesterstücke (Three Pieces for Orchestra) — Präludium, Reigen, and Marsch — serve as the Austrian composer's initial foray into writing for a large orchestra. These pieces also mark his departure from his mentor Arnold Schoenberg, to whom the work was originally dedicated on his 40th birthday. The symphonic grandeur of the Three Pieces demonstrates a forward‐thinking approach while drawing inspiration from the works of Mahler. In the final movement, Marsch, the inclusion of a "great hammer" adds a sense of impending doom and can be seen as a poignant precursor to the looming catastrophe of the Great War.

"My Sixth Symphony is the boldest, but also the most sincere," declared Anton Bruckner regarding his magnum opus. Spanning nearly two years from 1879 to 1881, Bruckner dedicated significant time and effort to refine and perfect this composition, as was his customary practice. Interestingly, when the symphony was first performed, although not in its entirety, it managed to elicit applause even from the esteemed Johannes Brahms, who was regarded as Bruckner's natural opposition in the Austrian music scene. From its inception, one can immediately sense the unmistakable Brucknerian atmosphere, with the soaring violins creating a transparent texture that, in the softest moments, creates a mystical ambiance. This enchantment is promptly intensified by the commanding bass section, comprising of cellos and double basses, setting the stage for the thunderous themes that construct the symphony's structural foundation. Particularly memorable is the profound Adagio of the Sixth Symphony, with its introspective and mournful progression, foreshadowing the thematic material found in the Seventh Symphony, which would go on to captivate the cinematic imagination of Luchino Visconti. Gustav Mahler would ultimately conduct the first complete performance of Bruckner's Sixth Symphony in 1899, three years following the composer's passing.