SOMM Recordings concludes its universally acclaimed six-volume Bruckner from the Archives series with his last two symphonies and Psalm 150. By a happy coincidence conductors Eugen Jochum and Henry Swoboda, who were featured conductors in Volume 1, make a welcome re-appearance, bringing the series to an elegant conclusion.
This archival series celebrating Anton Brucker’s bicentennial was conceived and designed by SOMM Executive Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer, Lani Spahr, with annotations from Professor Benjamin Korstvedt. Of Bruckner’s two final symphonies Korstvedt says, “[With] the Eighth and the Ninth, Bruckner reached the pinnacle of symphonic achievement. They both pose considerable challenges, musically, textually and emotionally. Above all, they are unquestionably two of the greatest works in the genre, by any composer before or after.”
When Bruckner completed his Eighth Symphony in 1887, he asked his supporter, Hermann Levi, to conduct the premiere. When Levi responded, “I don’t have the courage to perform it,” Bruckner was staggered by the rejection, but didn’t lose faith in his score. On 10 March 1890, he wrote “entirely finished” on a reworked version. His revisions, extensive as they were, stayed true to his original conception of the work’s dramatic course, and after the premiere in 1892, Hugo Wolf called the work “a complete victory of light over darkness.”
To honour Bruckner’s bicentennial in this last Volume 6, the Bruckner Archive offers an exciting 1957 live performance, expertly re-mastered by Lani Spahr, featuring the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra led by their founding conductor Eugen Jochum. In 1949, Jochum made the first commercial recording of the Eighth, and this present recording offers a vivid example of his distinctive way with Bruckner in his approach to the dramatic possibilities of the score.
Bruckner’s last great sacred work, Psalm 150 from 1892, is a jubilant hymn of praise that references music in its directive to “Praise the Lord” with trumpet and harp, with dancing and cymbals. This recording, the first ever made, is from 1950 during the pioneering days of LPs, with Henry Swoboda conducting the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Vienna Academy Chamber Choir.
Twice in 1894, and again in 1896, Bruckner’s health declined so gravely that last rites were administered. When death took him on 11 October 1896, he had completed three movements of his Ninth Symphony. The symphony—with its grimly epic opening, its insistent Scherzo, and a long moment of silence before the resolution of the Adagio—is usually performed incomplete, as it is here. In this first release, Wolfgang Sawallisch conducts the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in the Musikverein—the same orchestra and hall as the premiere in 1903.
Lani Spahr’s previous SOMM releases include the lauded four-volume sets Vaughan Williams Live (ARIADNE 5016, 5018, 5019, 5020) and Elgar Remastered (SOMMCD 261-4), as well as two Gramophone Editor’s Choice picks: Elgar from America Vol 3 (ARIADNE 5015-2) for “superb audio restorations [bringing] performances fully to life” and Bruckner from the Archives Vol. 1 (ARIADNE 5025-2) for the “high standards achieved here, where expert audio restoration and remastering is by Lani Spahr.”
On This Recording
Disc 1
Symphony No. 8 in C Minor, WAB 108 (Ed. Nowak)a
- I. Allegro moderato (13:55)
- II. Scherzo. Allegro moderato – Trio. Langsam (13:44)
- III. Adagio. Feierlich langsam, doch nicht schleppend (27:29)
- IV. Finale. Feierlich, nicht schnell (20:13)
Disc 2
- Psalm 150, WAB 38 (11:38)b
Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, WAB 109 (1894, Ed. Nowak)c
- I. Feierlich, misterioso (23:59)
- II. Scherzo. Bewegt lebhaft – Trio. Schnell – Da capo (9:29)
- III. Adagio. Langsam, feierlich (24:49)
aBavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Eugen Jochum, conductor
bHilda Ceska, soprano; Vienna Akademie Kammerchor; Vienna Symphony Orchestra; Henry Swoboda, conductor
cVienna Symphony Orchestra; Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor
