Bruckner - Symphony No. 3 (Berliner Philharmoniker/Daniel Barenboim)
Teldec 0630-13160-2 (1996)
Bruckner - Symphony No. 5 (Berliner Philharmoniker/Daniel Barenboim)
Teldec 9031-73271-2 (1992)
Bruckner - Symphony No. 7 (Berliner Philharmoniker/Daniel Barenboim)
Teldec 9031-77118-2 (1993)
Bruckner - Symphony No. 8; Wagner - Siegfried Idyll (Berliner Philharmoniker/Herbert von Karajan)
Deutsche Grammophon 419 1962 (1976)
Bruckner - Symphony No. 9 (Berliner Philharmoniker)
Deursche Grammophon 419 063-2 (1976):I also got over half the Bruckner symphonies on this HAUL. Having now heard them all – I was totally unacquainted with the Ninth despite being reasonably familiar with the other eight, or in the case of the first two, I had at least heard them; I guess I was saving it for last for the maximum impact of his symphonic dénouement. It worked. New rankings, for the benefit of Mick or really anybody:

8 > 9 > 5 > 7 > 6 > 3 > 4 > 1 > 2

Bruckner, like Bo Diddly, had a characterisric accented-unaccented-unaccented rhythm. Now bear with me for a second, because this is interesting – in classical times, that rhythm is manifested as lllooonnnggg-short-short. In modern poetry, such as Shakespeare, it evolved to STRESSED-unstressed-unstressed. Accented-unaccented-unaccented is, in poetic theory, a daxtylic rhythm. It is the rhythm of the Iliad, the Odyssey, and (in conscious imitation of the Greek), the Aeneid, and thus, of epic poetry. In other words, Bruckner’s epic symphonies are wpic both in scale and grandeur but also in form. Of course he wouldn’t have been aware of that, Beuckner being an ignorant peasant. Joe would appreciate tuis but he’s not reading it. Hey @benjamin this is where an @Joe feature would be useful. The Fourth symphony was my first, and I don’t recommend it be yours – it gives a false impression of a Romantic tone-painter, and it took a couple more symphonies to correct the impression. I also haven’t heard No. 0 or 00, but they’re on the order of lost early Beethoven sonatas.

I’m going to make this post wholly about the Bruckster and title it “The Bruckner Post”. What do you think of Anton Bruckner? Do you have any wacky Bruckner stories?

He’a one of my favorite composers. When I first explored classical music I followed a 101-works guide (just the right number IMO – I skipped the operas for now. One new world to explore at a time). I downloaded all 101 and wrote a bad check for the albums-only ones, which my parents bailed me out for but were massively pissed. It was a worthy initial investment, mom and dad.

The Fourth was on that list. At the time I categorized him with Mahler as “big-ass symphony guy” even though they couldn’t be less alike. I got the Sixth on vinyl at a thrift store and absorbed it through the osmosis of being in my collection – I don’t remember ever consciously putting it on yet it’s one of the ones I’m most familiar with (the others being 3, 5, 7, and 8). I’ve heard abd have a nodding familiarity for the first two through several attempted symphony runs. The Third I heard a lot through those runs, but what usually stopped those runs in their tracks is the wayward Fourth. I started with Karajan’s Seventh and Eighth, then went backward to the Third and Fifth when I got sets of the symphonies by Karajan (’70s analog) and Jochum (’60s and ’70s analog). I saved the cherry-on-top Ninth for just now.

After I had my core, I expanded it to a little shelf of about two dozen CDs from Borders (RIP) and the same record store I got this very HAUL at. I was without Internet, which now seems unimaginable for even a day, for four years, during which time I took my laptop to the library to use Wifi, use Amazon to expand my collection (along with the record store), and scam eMusic, God rest their souls (I assume they’re defunct).

They gave 100 free downloads with every new account. How that site worked is that you paid by the download. Fine for the pop music they were focusing on, but on a platform that included the complete Naxos catalogue in transparent-quality, DRM-free MP3s, a hundred downloads is suddenly very valuable.

I would buy a $15 prepaid burner Visa gift card, charge a $14.99 eMusic subscription to it, using a burner Hotmail address – boom, 100 free tracks when an entire rack’s worth of symphonies only taking half of that!

If it saves me from Hell, I no longer have any of those recordings.