# Bruckner - Symphony 0 & 00?



## ojoncas (Jan 3, 2019)

Symphony in F minor, WAB 99 : 00
Symphony in D minor, WAB 100 : 0

Can they compete with the 1 to 9?
I rarely see people mentioning those, 
I’m wondering if even people listen to them.

Also, throwing some good recordings would be appreciated!


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

Can they compete with 1-9? Definitely not in the case of 00, but both do serve a purpose in giving us an idea of Bruckner's evolution as a symphonic composer. 00 is a pleasant listen but on the whole it owes too much of a debt to the likes of Schumann and Mendelssohn. 0 is far better and bears more of a recognisable Brucknerian stamp as chronologically it comes between no.1 and no.2. When listening to the whole symphonic cycle I prefer to include nos. 0 and 00 in order to put them into historical context.

As regards recordings I would recommend Tintner on Naxos and Skrowaczewski on Ohms/Arte Nova - many conductors tend to get 0 and 00 out of the way with cursory accounts (if they bother to record them at all) but these two showed them respect.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

ojoncas said:


> Symphony in F minor, WAB 99 : 00
> Symphony in D minor, WAB 100 : 0
> 
> Can they compete with the 1 to 9?
> ...


No. But perhaps the _odd_ people listen to them. People like me.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

Oddly enough, I listen to them too, especially the nullte, quite a lot. I have recordings by Simone Young and Skrowczewszki that I love.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Indeed, 0 is worth a spin, even if it is not as good as the rest for me. 00, also known as the Licence to kill symphony, is more for completionists (like me).


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

No, they are a waste of your time. I've loved Bruckner for 40 years and only one time even had a copy of either in my collection.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

I feel Bruckner only reaches his stride from Symphony number 3 onwards.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I don't agree that they're a waste of time, I just view them in the same way I view Dvorak's first two symphonies (I rarely play those either).


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

Not a waste of time, but I don't think either No.1 and most of the time No.2 can compete with No.3 onwards. Bruckner's sound was always a work-in-progress which he was hardly ever satisfied with. Most of the revisions that stayed as milestones were done within his last 15 years alive.

I'm very happy with Simone Young's modern and spacious romantic readings. Jochum BPO and Jochum SKD can do for me with the first numbered ones.


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

This thread has given me a new appreciation for the ‘Nullte’/0 Symphony. Years back, when I first heard it I was not familiar with the 2nd and 3rd, which I have come to prefer over all the other Bruckner symphonies. Now having listened to several versions, I find the 0 symphony to be, by any standard, a polished work. It is the 00 and Symphony #1 that are the outliers. Which makes sense given when the Nullte was composed. 

Back when I heard it first, my preferred version was the Haitink, but I have now been converted, first to the Skrowczewszki, and finally to the Simone Young as the favorite. The latter is a nice surprise. The Andante is a wonderful interpretation, slow and reverent. It’s interesting to hear what would become some of the elements of the 2nd symphony.


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## StrE3ss (Feb 20, 2019)

The only version that i have listen is Rozhdestvensky and The State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR Ministry of Culture. I prefer 0 to 00.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I've liked No. 0 ever since I had it on tape with RSO Berlin/Chailly. It was coupled with another piece which Bruckner composed at the end of his formal studies, the Overture in G minor. Symphony No. 00 also comes from the same period, but I haven't heard it.

The first symphony I got to know was the 6th. In the intervening years I collected all of them (except the 3rd). I only find Nos. 0 and 6 to be indispensable, ultimately because I find them both memorable and relatively light. I accept his last two symphonies as masterpieces (and I try to use the word sparingly). However I find them depressing, the 9th especially comes across as too much fire and brimstone, the last utterance of a man who knows he's about to meet his maker.

The nullification of the D minor symphony happened after Bruckner withdrew it due to criticism from a conductor in Vienna. Otto Dessoff was surprised that there was no main theme in the first movement. The reaction is telling because while there is no main theme, the work displays what would become Bruckner's trademark - the organic development of themes without them being fully stated initially. Bruckner's style wasn't fully formed and he would always struggle with sensitivity to criticism and lack of confidence.

As have been discussed there have been some fine versions of this symphony since I purchased the Chailly tape. Later on I happened to find a CD by the ubiquitous Philharmonia Slavonica under Alberto Lizzio. The names are fake but the performance pretty much matches Chailly's to my ears, and I haven't found a need to replace it since.


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