Bruckner himself provided extra-musical associations for parts of the symphony, describing a trumpet and horn passage in the first movement as the 'annunciation of death'.
Critical Reception
At its 1892 premiere, the Eighth Symphony divided audiences, with some conservative members leaving, while the critic Eduard Hanslick described it as 'strange as a whole, indeed repellent'.
Composition History
The conductor Hermann Levi, a close collaborator of Bruckner, initially found it impossible to perform the Eighth Symphony in its 1887 form, leading Bruckner to revise it.
Performer Biography
Wilhelm Furtwängler, the conductor on this album, was the son of archaeologist Adolf Furtwängler and grew up in a humanistically influenced home in Munich.
Compositional Technique
Bruckner's Eighth Symphony uses the largest orchestra he ever employed, featuring eight horns (four doubling as Wagner tubas), three harps, and woodwinds in threes.
Composition History
Anton Bruckner began working on his Eighth Symphony in July 1884, completing the draft by August 1885 and the orchestration by April 1887.
Interpretation
Wilhelm Furtwängler believed that an interpreter must make music live, requiring rigorous preparation but also allowing for a small essential part of improvisation in performance.
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