The works of Anton Bruckner are among the last and most important links in the evolution of nineteenth-century symphonism. Over the course of that century, the symphony as a musical genre expanded and developed in terms of the massiveness of its sound, the power of its emotional expression and the message it conveyed. Bruckner’s work made an undeniable contribution to that process, which can be described as a movement towards the sublime, the solemn and the ecstatic.

The Eighth, his last completed symphony, was written between 1884 and 1887, but at the urging of friends who were critical of the excessive monumentality of the new work, even by Bruckner’s standards, the composer made significant changes, with the result that the work is often performed in the 1890 version. Despite the cuts, it remains a giant symphony, expansive in both form and instrumentation. Although guardedly received at its Vienna premiere, over time it gained a reputation as the composer’s most mature symphony, most fully expressing his mysticism. His music, at once both explosive, violent and focused, based on hard, hymnic melodies, coarse timbres and a dense sound, is vaguely ascetic and solemn at the same time. That might be because it is imbued with the deep religiosity of its composer. However, even if we ignore the religious context, it remains an existential challenge addressed to every human being.

Robert Losiak