# Favourite Bruckner Slow Mvt?



## RogerWaters (Feb 13, 2017)

Bruckner has some glacial, cosmic slow movements that reach massive heights (or depths).

Which is your favourite?


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## Aries (Nov 29, 2012)

I think my clear favorite is the adagio of the 8th.

This is probably my order:
8
5
7/9
4/3/2
6
1
00/0


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

7 is the greatest, one if the greatest of all Adagio mvts
4 and 9/III are really excellent, also...


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## RogerWaters (Feb 13, 2017)

Aries said:


> I think my clear favorite is the adagio of the 8th.
> 
> This is probably my order:
> 8
> ...


I also voted 8, but 7 is very close. I don't think I have got my head around 9 yet, in its vastness, but it is also wonderful.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

I love every slow movement of his symphonies #4 - 9, especially #8. BTW, I prefer the Haas edition of the movement to those of Nowak. They have several noticeable differences in #8.


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## mparta (Sep 29, 2020)

Having heard an earth-shattering 8th from HvK/VPO, I don't know what will ever match that for me. Hors concours


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

None of them, but then I am definitely not a fan of Bruckner.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

haziz said:


> None of them, but then I am definitely not a fan of Bruckner.


Thank you for letting us into that essential fact! 

I voted for the last 3, my favorite of these is probably #9 but I like also #6 and #5 a lot. #4 is not a great favorite but it is one that sticks out with a rather different character (also the only one marked andante?).


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## dko22 (Jun 22, 2021)

I thought that 8 would win but I’d never put it on top — which version anyway as the original has a number of significance differences from the revisions? I probably have to go with the heavenly no.6 with 9 being close but to be honest, no one can match Bruckner for the sheer number of wonderful adagios


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

I voted B7 and B9 although B8 Adagio is sublime also.
B7 Adagio heard on the classical music radio is what made me an instant Bruckner fan.
B9 was my first Bruckner CD purchase - after listening to that radio program I just went to the shop and since they didn't have any recordings of the Seventh, I picked (semi-randomly) a B9 with Carlo Maria Giulini, as a nod to his great opera recordings. Boy, were I able to get a better first pick? Nah!


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

7-9 with Giulini/Vienna (DG) are all great with the very lyrical #7 maybe a bit less convincing than his 8 and 9.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

Easy choice for me, 8.


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## Aries (Nov 29, 2012)

Some more thoughts about every Adagio:

00. Has something, when played good.
1. Overall not as great yet, but already has a great climax.
0. Probably his weakest Adagio. Not really remarkable for me yet.
2: Overall very good and noble, underrated imo. But no big climax like in the later Adagios.
3. Good and and probably also underrated like the 2nd, and with a great triple climax and coda. Probably overall the best climax of all of Bruckners Adagios.
4. Has some magic appeal so that it never seems too long. Interessting is the comparison of the first version and the later versions. I probably like the first version more.
5. Best first 5-6 minutes of a Bruckner Adagio. Nice ascetic coda.
6. Its very good, but somehow the 6th is overall less appealing for me than Bruckners other symphonies. I think its the spirit of the symphony.
7. Great opening, the middle section is maybe too long, climax similar to the fifth and imo somewhat overrated. One of the best codas beginning with the funeral music for Wagner, and the longest so overall probably the coda with the most accumulative quality.
8. Best athmosphere for me of all of Bruckner Adagios. Best second theme. Best middle section/development. Best coda. But the opening theme and the overall climax is maybe a bit weaker than the outstanding rest. 
9. Best first 2 minutes of a Bruckner Adagio but I don't really understand the climax of the first theme. But great second theme and development, and probably even better climax and coda.


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

I chose the adagio of the 5th symphony.


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## Cristian Lee (Aug 13, 2017)

The Adagio of the 7th symphony conducted by Celibidache.


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

mparta said:


> Having heard an earth-shattering 8th from HvK/VPO, I don't know what will ever match that for me. Hors concours


I actually prefer the version Karajan did with BPO here. The BPO has an icier sound and there is a magnetic intensity pervading the whole movement that just isn't in the VPO version. That being said, I prefer the VPO for the slow movement of the 7th for the opposite reasons; the VPO is warmer and more natural sounding!


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Howabout this - "Favorite Bruckner Andante?"


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