Repertoire

BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 8, in C Minor

Artists

Dennis Russell Davies, conductor

Program

It is said about the Eighth that it is an incomparable symphonic monument, a cathedral of sound, a giant whose spirituality goes beyond anything we have ever heard before. We can talk forever about the Eighth but there is only one truly unique experience: listening to it.Bruckner enjoyed his first major success as a composer at the age of 60, with his Seventh Symphony. The acclaim he received spurred him on to compose a new work, but when he had finished the Eighth – after three years of physical and emotional effort– nobody wanted to premiere it. Bruckner felt defeated. When, finally, five years later, it premiered in Vienna, the audience were awed by the immensity and depth of the work. Even the critics –who always accused him of ‘Wagnerism’ and ‘anti-Brahminism’ – recognised its value. A great symphonic structure full of uncertainties, emotions and heartfelt intensity.

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