# Bruckner’s string Quintet



## juliante

Hi folks

Any love the Bruckner’s String Quintet out there? I have just discovered it. After 2 listens I am feeling very drawn to it. It has a melancholic feel to my ears, quite subtle textures and melodic lines and it is gently expansive. There’s not a lot of discussion on the web about it. So any thoughts on merits or otherwise from anyone who actually understands music would be interesting.

Also, if there are any fans of it, do you have any recommended recordings? I am listening to a recording by the Bartholdy Quintet. I read a positive review of the Fitzwilliam’s recent recording.


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## Pugg

The Fitzwilliam is a outstanding one, as is Vienna Philharmonia Quintet on the Australian Eloquence series for bargain price.
Enjoy.


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## kyjo

The slow movement is definitely the high point of the work for me. It's nearly the equal of some of his great symphonic slow movements in beauty of expression. I like the Naxos recording with the Fine Arts Quartet and Gil Sharon.


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## poodlebites

I thought you were talking about Dvorak's Quintet, not Bruckner, sorry.


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## Sonata

I just heard it for the first time last month, when Bruckner was my Composer in Focus. I enjoyed it very much. I can't give you a recording preference, I think I heard the one from Naxos on Amazon music


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## Neward Thelman

Both Pugg [who uses photos of female operatic singers to represent him] and Kyjo are correct.

- The Vienna Philharmonia Quintet is an outstanding recorded performance, and would get my top recommendation

- The adagio is unbelievable. Kyjo is correct is assessing its beauty, but incorrect in assessing its ranking - " nearly the equal of some of his great symphonic slow movements". It is, in fact, the equal of Bruckner's great adagios. Keep in mind that Bruckner was the master of the symphonic adagio - something that even his enemies admitted. The Quintet adagio is a gem.

The Quintet is regarded as one of the masterpieces in the literature. What's kept it from wider acceptance into concert performance is some lingering anti-Bruckner sentiment.

I echo your frustration with the paucity of analysis and informed commentary about the piece on the internet. But, keep in mind that there's a similar lack about most composer's music who aren't named Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart. Or, cRap performers.


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## Neward Thelman

Sonata said:


> I just heard it for the first time last month, when Bruckner was my Composer in Focus. I enjoyed it very much. I can't give you a recording preference, I think I heard the one from Naxos on Amazon music


Your nom de plume has signaled my attention. Did you choose it because you've studied the sonata form, or after the Hyundai automobile?

Allow me to ask you a few questions. If it's the latter, do you own the car? If so, which year? Which style? Have you had any problems with it? How do you find the electronic [not hydraulic] power steering at highway speeds? Is it stable, and does it allow you to stay in your lane without constant corrections?

If the latter's the case, then if a development section's showing the following harmonic motion: G flat major - F sharp minor - A major - A major - A minor - and exposition had established C minor as a somewhat unstable tonic - what would you expect to happen at the beginning of the recapitulation, assuming conventional 19th century procedures, and how might the music get there?


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## EdwardBast

Neward Thelman said:


> The Quintet is regarded as one of the masterpieces in the literature. What's kept it from wider acceptance into concert performance is some lingering anti-Bruckner sentiment.


Yeah, must be a conspiracy. Or perhaps performers and audiences just don't find it interesting?


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## Neward Thelman

EdwardBast said:


> Yeah, must be a conspiracy. Or perhaps performers and audiences just don't find it interesting?


So true. Unlike that Kanye West. Thrill a minute, right there. Audiences jest can't git enough. Yes sir.


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## Larkenfield

Known more for his large-scale symphonies, it's possible that some listeners are simply unaware that Bruckner ever wrote a String Quintet. The lovely Adagio can sound completely blissed out...






Entire Quintet...


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## EdwardBast

Neward Thelman said:


> So true. Unlike that Kanye West. Thrill a minute, right there. Audiences jest can't git enough. Yes sir.


Who is Kanye West?

I was thinking unlike Schubert, Brahms and Dvorak. It surprises you that some people find Bruckner uninteresting? It's not an uncommon sentiment.


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## eugeneonagain

Neward Thelman said:


> Kyjo is correct is assessing its beauty, but incorrect in assessing its ranking - " nearly the equal of some of his great symphonic slow movements". It is, in fact, the equal of Bruckner's great adagios...


Is it just me or is there something odd here? If Bruckner's great adagios are not also his great symphonic slow movements, what are they?


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