Bruckner: Symphony No. 1 & 4 Orchestral Pieces

Featuring

Gustavo Gimeno
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg
Anton Bruckner

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Recording & Production

The Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, featured on this recording, is resident at the Philharmonie Luxembourg, one of Europe's most prestigious concert halls, and the two institutions merged in 2012.

Performer Biography

Gustavo Gimeno, the conductor on this album, began his international conducting career in 2012 as an assistant to Mariss Jansons, while he was still a solo percussionist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Composition History

Bruckner's First Symphony, which he had with him when he moved to Vienna in 1868, was a monumental work demonstrating assured technical skill, not an impetuous first symphonic effort.

Critical Reception

The Linz version of Bruckner's First Symphony was not played again after its premiere until well into the 20th century, but has since become more prominent in the concert repertoire than the later Vienna version.

Composition History

The Four Orchestral Pieces on this album were composed in 1862 during Bruckner's studies with Otto Kitzler, the musical director of the Linz theatre, and Bruckner himself referred to them as "homework."

Compositional Technique

The March in D minor, an early exercise by Bruckner, is only 30 bars long but shows his pleasure in using the full orchestral palette and contains harmonic and rhythmic elements hinting at his future compositional development.

Composer Biography

Anton Bruckner was over 30 years old when he began formal composition studies, having previously written over 40 "occasional" pieces, including some large-scale sacred works.