Symphony No. 1 (Bruckner)

“Symphony No. 1 in C minor”
Dedication	University of Vienna
Composed	1865 - 1866 (Linz version) 1890 - 1891 (Vienna version) 1893 (first edition)
Premiere	Bruckner conducting, 9 May 1868, Linz
First published	1893
Other editions	ed. Robert Haas, 1935 ed. Leopold Nowak, 1953 ed. Günther Brosche, 1980 ed. William Carragan
First recording	Volkmar Andreae, Austria State Symphony Orchestra, 1950

Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 1 in C minor was the first symphony the composer thought worthy of performing, and bequeathing to the Vienna national library. Chronologically, it comes after the Study Symphony in F minor and before Symphony No. 0 in D minor. The first version of the Symphony No. 2 in C minor was completed after No. 0.

The Symphony No. 1 was premiered under Bruckner in 1868. It was dedicated to the University of Vienna, after Bruckner was granted an honorary doctorate in 1891.

Bruckner gave it the nickname "das kecke Beserl", roughly translated as "saucy maid".

Description

The symphony has four movements.

1. Allegro (C minor)
2. Adagio (A-flat major)
3. Scherzo: Lebhaft (G minor) – Trio: Langsam (G major)
4. Finale: Bewegt und feurig (C minor)

The choice of keys for the first two movements mirrors Beethoven's choice for his Fifth Symphony, but Bruckner has the timpani retune to A flat and E flat.

Versions

Early draft (1865)

Prior to the completion of the 1866 version, Bruckner composed earlier forms of the Adagio and the Scherzo. These earlier Adagio and Scherzo were edited in 1995 by Wolfgang Grandjean.

In the leaflet of his recording of the 1866 Version Tintner mentions: "... an earlier unfinished version of [the Adagio] exists, with largely the same material, except for a quite different middle section" and "... the earlier very short Scherzo, which Bruckner discarded before 1866 (because of its brevity?) with chromatic syncopation, is perhaps more interesting".

Midi-files of these Adagio and Scherzo have been prepared by Joan Schukking. A synth version of the Scherzo can be heard at Classical Composers.

1866 version

The first version of the symphony, written by Bruckner in Linz and first performed under his baton in 1868. Sometimes known as the unrevised Linz version, this is available in an edition by William Carragan. It has been recorded by Georg Tintner.

1877 version

Although often called the "Linz" version, this was in fact made in Vienna. It is available in editions by Robert Haas (published 1935) and Leopold Nowak (published 1953). The vast majority of recordings, including the famous one featuring Eugen Jochum conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle, are of one of these two editions.

1891 version

Known as the "Vienna" version, this is considerably different from the 1877 and 1866 versions. It is available in an edition by Günther Brosche, published in 1980. It has been recorded by Riccardo Chailly, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky and Günter Wand.

1893 first published edition

Edited by Doblinger under the supervision of Cyrill Hynais, this has very few differences from the 1891 version. It has been recorded by F. Charles Adler, Volkmar Andreae and Fritz Zaun (scherzo only).

Instrumentation

The score calls for a pair each of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, and strings.

Discography

The first commercial recording was by Fritz Zaun with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra in 1934. It included only the scherzo, in the 1893 first published version.

The first commercial recording of the entire symphony was by Volkmar Andreae with the Austria State Symphony Orchestra in 1950, also using the first published version.

Notable recordings

Version of 1866 (Linzer)

• Georg Tintner conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, studio recording, Naxos, 1998 (Carragan/1866)

Version of 1877 (Linzer revised)

• Georg-Ludwig Jochum conducting the RIAS Symphony Orchestra, live performance, Tahra, 1956 (Haas/1877)
• Eugen Jochum conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker, Deutsche Grammophon, 1966 (Nowak/1877)
• Eugen Jochum conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle, EMI, 1978 (Nowak/1877)
• Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker, Deutsche Grammophon, 1981 (Nowak/1877)
• Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting the Bayerisches Staatsorchester München, Orfeo, 1984 (Haas/1877)
• Eliahu Inbal conducting the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Teldec, 1987 (Nowak/1877)
• Takashi Asahina conducting the Osaka Philharmonic, Canyon, 1994 (Haas/1877)
• Stanisław Skrowaczewski conducting the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra, Arte Nova/Oehms Classics, 1995 (Nowak/1877)

Version of 1891 (Wiener)

• Volkmar Andreae conducting the Austria State Symphony Orchestra, Forgotten Records, 1950 (Doblinger/1893)
• Charles Adler conducting the Vienna Orchestra Society, Forgotten Records, 1955 (Doblinger/1893)
• Günter Wand conducting the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, EMI, 1981 (Brosche/1980)
• Leon Botstein conducting the American Symphony Orchestra, American Symphony Download, 2003 (Brosche/1980)

References

• Kraus (1997) Joseph C. "Phrase rhythm in Bruckner's early orchestral scherzi" Cambridge. Bruckner Studies edited by Timothy L. Jackson and Paul Hawkshaw. Cambridge University Press

External links

• Symphony No. 1: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.
• Full score (Haas/1877) from the Indiana University school of music
• Bruckner Symphony Versions
• Complete discography