Rosary Cathedral is the majestic setting for Bruckner symphony
By SALLY VALLONGO
BLADE STAFF WRITER
It took Anton Bruckner nine years to write his ninth symphony.
But in the end, the German Romantic composer ran out of time anyway, dying in 1896 before he could complete the fourth movement of his final work, Symphony
in D Minor.
Abrupt endings aren’t all that unusual in the classical world. Sometimes a composer simply runs out of notes. Or musical ideas. Or time and energy.
Frequently, death takes over, determining that a few relatively shaky passages become the final cadence, whether the composer intended such or not.
Think of Franz Schubert, creator of perhaps the most famous unfinished work, the 8th Symphony.
Other famed composers including Sir Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler,
Alfred Schnittke, Georges Bizet, and Jean Sibelius left behind major pieces that simply faded away.
Often, as in the case of Bruckner and the others, devotees take pains to bring the unfinished works to an artistic close. Sometimes, the works are played as they are, formally incomplete yet artistically satisfying.
Such is the case with Bruckner’s Ninth, which will be performed at 7 p.m. Thursday in Rosary Cathedral by the Toledo Symphony, with Stefan Sanderling conducting.
Each year another Bruckner work has been performed in this sacred space. Why the church and not the Peristyle?
Something about Bruckner’s music — and the man himself — make it seem a natural choice. Known as a deeply devout man, a church organist by profession, the shy, humble German villager poured his spirituality into each note.
His symphonies have been called architectural and are often compared in scale and grandeur to cathedrals. The setting enhances the music and the music deepens the spiritual power of the setting.
Bruckner scholar Philip Barfield, author of the BBC music guide to Bruckner’s symphonies, writes: “Surface impressions may seem to confirm the image of Anton Bruckner as ‘God’s musician.’
“Bruckner was a short, nervous man with country ways, who shambled about Vienna in a baggy suit. His physical appearance, extremely typical of Upper Austria (there are men living there today who look like his blood brothers), proclaimed his rural origins.”
Barfield continues, “Bruckner was neither socially nor physically equipped for the inner circles of sophisticated society. Yet his music is free of that kind of neurotic introspection characteristic of Mahler’s; and it is the very opposite of death.”
Despite its lack of a fourth movement, this Bruckner work, like his others, is also massive in length: at least 70 minutes, depending on how Maestro Sanderling takes the tempos.
The Toledo Symphony will perform Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony at 7 p.m. Thursday in Rosary Cathedral, 2535 Collingwood Blvd. Tickets, which are general admission, are $30 in advance through www.toledosymphony.com or 419-246-8000, or at the door.
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