# Bruckner's symphonies



## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

It was hard to decide but this is the order in which I like his symphonies. Favourite first.

1. 2nd 
2. 9th
3. 1st
4. 8th
5. 00 'Study'
6. 7th
7. 6th
8. 3rd
9. 5th
10. 4th
11. 0th

The 00 rates highly because the 2nd movement is so beautiful.
The 2nd symphony has it all for me. Bombastic opening movement which ebbs and flows. It's the 2nd movement that tears me up.


----------



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

1. No. 8 in C minor (Revised version.)
2. No. 5 in B-flat (These top two are the ones that are great throughout.)

3. No. 9 in D minor (Suffers because it was not finished.)
4. No. 4 in E-flat (Suffers from a finale that's weaker than the rest of the movements by far.)
5. No. 6 in A (Excellent slow movement.)
6. No. 3 in D minor (Only in its original version. The revisions would rank near the bottom of this list.)
7. No. 7 in E (Good first half, weak second half.)
8. No. 2 in C minor
9. No. 1 in C minor

10. D minor "Die Nullte"
11. F minor "Study" Symphony


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

subject to frequent changes, but

8 revised
4 revised
9 
3 original
5 
7
6
2
1
0
00


----------



## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

8
6 (though I have heard performances that didn't do near as much for me)
7
5
3
9
2
4

I don't actually know the others; this thread has inspired me to queue up the 0.


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Hors concours (among my absolute favourites): 9
Essential (definitely will always be in my CD collection): 4,8
Important (want them in my CD collection if I had to start from scratch): 6,7
Good to have (not a priority for the collection if I had to start from scratch): 2,3,5
Not required (fine as gift or filler): 1

I have heard 0 and 00 only once, not enough to score them - first impresssion was that they are in the not required category.


----------



## rrudolph (Sep 15, 2011)

I think I pretty much agree with Mahlerian's assesment, although I might move #3 a little farther up the list--maybe ahead of #4. 

#9 might have been my favorite had he finished it.


----------



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

I'm sure my list will change here in a week or 2...

Symphony 7
Symphony 9
Symphony 4
Symphony 5
Symphony 8
Symphony 6
Symphony 2
Symphony 1
Symphony 3
Symphony 0
Symphony 00


----------



## julianoq (Jan 29, 2013)

Symphony 9 as my favorite, almost tied with
Symphony 8
Symphony 5 (my favorite finale)
Symphony 7 (a little weaker on the second half, but great anyway)
Symphony 4 (the first Bruckner work that I enjoyed)
Symphony 6
Symphony 3
Symphony 2
Symphony 1
Symphony 0
Symphony 00


----------



## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

beetzart said:


> It was hard to decide but this is the order in which I like his symphonies. Favourite first.
> 
> 1. 2nd
> 2. 9th
> ...


The 2nd gets way too little respect, I love the fact that you gave it the ultimate spot! The ebbing and flowing that you mentioned is brilliant, it gives the work a sort of philosophical feel.

Myself, I find this so hard; even ranking Mahler or Sibelius or Beethoven would be easier... I could imagine scratching up a list, but I'd feel bad immediately afterwards. Mahlerian's list is quite close to my feelings, though, and those justifications are excellent.

I hate to find flaws in Bruckner but one flaw might be that his finales are not always as high quality as his other three movements. This is more of a compliment to the quality of those other three than the supposed lack of quality in the finales, and indeed the finales of the 5th and the 8th are as good as anything he composed.

This thread is making me want to listen to Bruckner symphonies, too bad it's midnight now... but tomorrow morning, by sunrise, my neighbors shall bear witness to the majestic sounds of the opening of the 4th symphony!


----------



## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

For me it's:

9 (which is one of the greatest things ever written in general in my opinion)
8 (Fantastical)
5
7
4 (As Mahlerian said the last movement is meh compared to the rest)
6
3
1
2 (Ugh)


----------



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Cosmos said:


> 4 (As Mahlerian said the last movement is meh compared to the rest)


Just listen to the other attempts! They're even less satisfactory.


----------



## Aries (Nov 29, 2012)

9 with finale
8
9 without finale

3, 4, 5
2, 7
6

0
1
00


----------



## davinci (Oct 11, 2012)

8 -Revised
7
2 -A different direction for Bruckner
9
5
4
3 -Original, but 1877 Nowak edition is OK
6
1

0 -Nullte
00 -Study


----------



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I've not heard them all, so I can make no opinion.

Of what I've heard (in excerpts), I really like the 7th, and also the 4th. I've barely heard anything else, so no further opinion can be said.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

For me the Seventh and Eighth are Bruckner at his best. Don't care for any of the other symphonies.


----------



## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

hpowders said:


> For me the Seventh and Eighth are Bruckner at his best. Don't care for any of the other symphonies.


The 9th is one of my favorite pieces (I prefer the 3 movement torso). The 3rd movement sounds like Bruckner from the afterlife, extolling all of creation for it's beauty and mystery.


----------



## HIDEKI SUKENOBU (Mar 31, 2015)

Triplets said:


> The 9th is one of my favorite pieces (I prefer the 3 movement torso). The 3rd movement sounds like Bruckner from the afterlife, extolling all of creation for it's beauty and mystery.


Abbado selected this symphony as his last performance. The 9th is so to speak Bruckner's swan song. I like the the 3rd movement, especially the tone-cluster part which predicts Mahler's 10th Adagio movement. But anyway, those were written when they were looking forward to their deaths. Bruckner's best symphony is the 7th, I believe. How comfortable!


----------



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

My list has altered slightly since 2013...

Symphony 7
Symphony 4
Symphony 9
Symphony 8
Symphony 5
Symphony 2
Symphony 6
Symphony 1
Symphony 3
Symphony 0
Symphony 00


----------



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I love all nine numbered ones . The first two 0 and 00 , are interesting , but not mature Bruckner .
I don't think any of the movements is "weak ". The trouble is that some of the supposedly "weak"
movements are difficult to bring o ff successfully . The conductor's fault, not the composer . 
The first two are unjustly neglected and underrated . I've never been able to understand the neglect of the first , which is the shortest of the nine , and shouldn't be a problem for people who find long symphonies difficult to sit through . It's the same length as the Brahms first . 
People who dislike the Bruckner symphonies because they don't conform to the conventions of 18th and early 18th century symphonic form miss the point ; they need to let go of this procrustean bed . 
Bruckner's departures from conventional symphonic structure are one of the things that make his music so fascinating . He marched to the beat of a different drummer, to quote Emerson .


----------



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I don't listen to Bruckner very often but when I do it is likely to be the 7th most often, also the 4th & 6th and occasionally the 8th & 9th.

Regarding the 9th, while I can see the same type of logic with the 3 movement torso as with the Schubert Unfinished, that it feels 'right' (whatever that may mean), it is also abundantly clear that that was NOT Bruckner's intent as he even suggested using the Te Deum as a completion when it became apparent that he wouldn't finish the last movement. Consequently it does not seem right to admire the work for being seen as something that the composer didn't intend.

Added note: I am not necessarily endorsing the SMPC reconstruction but it certainly has much to be said for it.


----------



## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

Becca said:


> Added note: I am not necessarily endorsing the SMPC reconstruction but it certainly has much to be said for it.


Both the Harnoncourt recording of the fragments (which include pretty much the entire exposition in full orchestration) as well as some recordings of the completion have convinced me that a four-movement performance is not just legit but possibly The Right Thing to do nowadays. Allow for applause after the adagio but then play the finale as a kind of early encore. That's how it might be done in order to please both sides of the argument.


----------



## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

I am currently listening to the _Eighth_. For me it is a difficult symphony to follow. It has taken me many repeated listenings before I could understand the "Third" movement. It took a lot of work but it was worth the effort.


----------



## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

I love all Bruckner symphonies, but if I should choose the one and the only, it would be the Ninth.
On the other hand, I both love the 3-movement version as recorded by Guilini and newly-edited SMPC Finale as recorded by Rattle. This is the only satisfactory Finale version in my opinion. Really makes me want to listen to it again and again instead or pressing Stop after the first 3 movements.


----------



## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

The 5th was the first Bruckner I heard and one of the first classical CDs I bought (Abbado on DG). If there was any possibility back then that my initial dalliance with CM was to remain just a passing phase and nothing else then Bruckner's 5th immediately convinced me that it should become one of the rocks on which to rebuild my church.


----------



## Steve Wright (Mar 13, 2015)

Well, this has been fun to think about. I'm only six months into what I think will be a long love affair with Bruckner (!) and only now feel ready to attempt a rough order of preference.
4 and 7 are the hardest to place, for me. Probably the most accessible, they are the first I got to know and, at times, can feel over-familiar and perhaps slightly less mysterious than the rest. But on the right day both - 4 especially - would be right near or at the top for me.
There's not a huge, huge gulf between the top seven here. All of these down to and including #2 I love, and would be happy to hear any of them at any given time.
Haven't yet got my head around 3 (aside from that mysterious, call-to-arms opening) and 1. But here goes (also with, for interest, my favourites among the few versions I have for each:

8 - Maazel/BPO
9 - Karajan/BPO tho' not yet listened to the 9 from the Jochum/Dresden set
4 - Jochum/BPO or Karajan/BPO
7 - Karajan/BPO or Wand/Kolner
5 - Karajan/BPO tho' not yet listened to the 5 from the Jochum/Dresden set
6 - Stein/VPO
2 - Jochum/Dresden
3 - Tintner
1 - Jochum/Dresden


----------



## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

Best of luck in your new venture Steve. May I recommend an article to you by the late John Quinn of Musicweb International.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/Apr09/Bruckner_Symphonies_Article.htm

Reading this article could be expensive so I hope your credit card is in good stead.

Enjoy.


----------



## Steve Wright (Mar 13, 2015)

Polyphemus said:


> May I recommend an article to you by the late John Quinn of Musicweb International.
> 
> http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/Apr09/Bruckner_Symphonies_Article.htm
> 
> Reading this article could be expensive so I hope your credit card is in good stead.


Ha, thanks Polyphemus! I have perused that article many a time - most recently about an hour ago, to check again on his recommended Eighths. Seems I'll need to acquire the Wand/BPO and Karajan/VPO efforts. Others on my wish list: 5 Barenboim, 9 Barenboim, 2 Stein.


----------



## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

Steve Wright said:


> Ha, thanks Polyphemus! I have perused that article many a time - most recently about an hour ago, to check again on his recommended Eighths. Seems I'll need to acquire the Wand/BPO and Karajan/VPO efforts. Others on my wish list: 5 Barenboim, 9 Barenboim, 2 Stein.


I knew it would be expensive for you (LOL).

:lol: :tiphat:


----------



## Steve Wright (Mar 13, 2015)

A few more hours' rapt and attentive listening to Bruckner's symphonies and, well, I think I'd place Bruckner's Fifth among my top 3. I don't know, others will disagree, but it seems to me that 5, 8 and 9 are the ones with that extra level of drama, mysticism, grandeur, other-worldliness. 
Next to these, 4 and 7 are very beautiful, I've been much enjoying 6 of late, and both 2 and 3 clearly have plenty still to reveal to me. But I think I'd put 5, 8 and 9 as my ultimates, the crystallisation of, in my mind, what Bruckner's about and why he's so wonderful.


----------



## haydnfan (Apr 13, 2011)

My top tier is 4, 7, 8, 9
followed by 3, 5, 6
and then 1, 2
and finally 0, 00


----------



## Charlie Mac (May 23, 2015)

I have a special fondness for Symphonies 5 and 8. The slow movements of each are particularly gorgeous and speak straight to the soul in all their bittersweet glory.

Of course, I love Symphony No.7 and Symphony No.9 a lot, too. The sixth intrigues me - it's got a feel that always strikes me as unusual. The Romantic (No.4) I need to reacquaint myself with, while the first and third I hardly know.

The second features a sublime slow movement - especially when the horn, rather than clarinet, is used at the end. Why do so many conductors choose the latter?!


----------



## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

*No. 8*


----------



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Charlie Mac said:


> The second features a sublime slow movement - especially when the horn, rather than clarinet, is used at the end. Why do so many conductors choose the latter?!


Because they're following different editions of the score.


----------



## Charlie Mac (May 23, 2015)

Obviously - or else the two different variants wouldn't exist in the first place. 

Theoretically you are right, but seeing as there are conductors who use the horn despite otherwise using an edition that technically stipulates otherwise - and vice versa - that doesn't entirely hold true.

Conductors 'pick and mix' with editions when it comes to Bruckner. Few conductors stick religiously to the specifics of one edition while ignoring the suggestions of all others, so there are reasons for the use of the clarinet by the preponderance of conductors that lay beyond using a certain edition of the score.


----------



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Charlie Mac said:


> Obviously - or else the two different variants wouldn't exist in the first place.
> 
> Theoretically you are right, but seeing as there are conductors who use the horn despite otherwise using an edition that technically stipulates otherwise - and vice versa - that doesn't entirely hold true.
> 
> Conductors 'pick and mix' with editions when it comes to Bruckner. Few conductors stick religiously to the specifics of one edition while ignoring the suggestions of all others, so there are reasons for the use of the clarinet by the preponderance of conductors that lay beyond using a certain edition of the score.


True enough. There are also those who dial down the cymbal crashes in the 1887 Eighth (yes, six was too many) or even the Seventh. It's by no means worse than following the Haas Eighth, I suppose.


----------



## Charlie Mac (May 23, 2015)

Bruckner's initial orchestration specified a horn at the close of the slow movement of the Symphony No.2, and apparently he only changed it to a clarinet because it was too hard to play on the horn. Trouble is, the horn sounds so much more moving - Bruckner was right first time.


----------



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I can't put them in any order of preference ; I love all nine and like number zero and the so-called "study symphony " oo . 
I don't like the idea of ordering any composer's symphonies in order of preference , because this is basically comparing apples and oranges within a composer's output . Or concertos etc .


----------



## Dedalus (Jun 27, 2014)

superhorn said:


> I can't put them in any order of preference ; I love all nine and like number zero and the so-called "study symphony " oo .
> I don't like the idea of ordering any composer's symphonies in order of preference , because this is basically comparing apples and oranges within a composer's output . Or concertos etc .


If you can't compare pieces in the same genre by the same composer what CAN you compare? In other words, if that's apples and oranges, what's apples and apples?


----------



## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

I coulda sworn I've seen two or three of these Bruckner Symphonies threads. 

I've been known to say elsewhere, that the game starts for me with Symphony 3, though I do appreciate Sawallisch and Giulini handlings of 1 & 2 respectively. Recordings do matter! No doubt, I would have a different order with other than my preferred stick-wielders for these works. 8, 9, 7, 4, 5, 6, 3. :tiphat:


----------



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

This is just my way of thinking . I'm not the type who finds it easy to choose favorites in anything , whether classical music, my tastes in literature, art, drama, food, or what have you .
While the later Bruckner symphonies are greater and more matire than the early ones, I still love the early ones .
It's not as though I like everything equally, I certainly don't , but I find ranking works by composers or ranking performers so pointless .


----------



## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

I'm addicted to Herr Bruckner  to his symphonies, can't help listening to them all my free time. How didn't I understand them before??? now it's obvious they are greatest masterpieces....oh, probably should have used superlatives here or someone might get hurt...I don't want to say that Schubert, Mozart or Beethoven or any others are not masterpieces, yes, they are, but still Bruckner now unbeatable for my taste. well, and I 'm writing here, because I have no one in my "real" life to share these thoughts with... I mean people know I like it very much, but they don't enjoy HIS music as much as I do, to such extend as I do.....even though some of them are musicians.....hahaha, and yet they aren't let's say inspired by his music, not in love with his music... may be it's easier for people to love Mozart and Beethoven, etc, I was myself of this type of a person, that's why probably only now Bruckner.....but I'm happy I rediscovered this great music.:angel:


----------

