Besprechung der 7. Symphonie am 11.2.1904 in The Manchester Guardian Nr. 17943 [einige Wörter sind schlecht lesbar]:
" THE HALLÉ CONCERTS.
PROGRAMME.
PART I.
[... Cherubini, Bach, Liszt, Elgar ...]
PART II
Symphony, No. 7, in E . . . . . . . . Bruckner
Why was the Bruckner Symphony not a success in Manchester? Perhaps on general principles there is no need to hold any such inquity. But there are grounds for thinking that in this particular case it may lead to something instructive. In several important respects Anton Bruckner–a citizen of Vienna the symphonic city, for ever associated with the names of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms–deserves a place in the shining company of those masters. In invention, which is the matter of central importance, he is quite worthy to be compared with Schubert, and his music has the same kind of innocence and delicate ideality as Schubert's. His seventh, which is generally accepted as his most typical, Symphony shows genius on every page. Every scrap of the thematic invention is beautiful, and much of it has that rarest quality of sustained melodic life without repetition (cf. examples 3, 9, and 13 in yesterday'sprogramme). The harmony is all noble; free from Tschaikovskian fever and Brahmsian heaviness, it suggests a latter-day Schubert, standing in the same relation to Wagner as the actual Schubert's to Beethoven. The orchestration is highly interesting, the remarkable use of tuba colouring being new in symphonic music. Throughout the greater part of the work it is evident that the composer had Wagner's "Ring" more or less in mind. The end of the first movement recalls the final scene of "Die Walküre," there are echoes of the "Walkürenritt" in the Scherzo, especially in the trumpet theme, and in the delicate animation of the music at the opening of the Finale a listener who knows the "Ring" well is inevitably carried back to the forest music of "Siegfried." Yet in all this there is no plagiarism; for the Wagnerian echoes simply form part of the humbler composer's dream-world, and when he symphonises in memory of Wagner it is very much as if Hans Andersen had chosen to entertain his youthful audiences with stories from Shakespeare, and had adapted his "Ugly Duckling" and "Emperor's New Clothes" to the language and atmosphere of Shakespere [sic] Land. Why then does this music, with its glow and freshness, affording a most beneficial change from the prevalent fever and ofret [?] of modern music, commonly fall flat? The probable reason is that Bruckner was no musical architect–that if he was strong in inventing good musical material he was correspondingly weak in throwing that material into satisfactory form. His movements lack balance and continuity. Much too often the entire orchestra comes to a full stop and has to make a completely fresh start. The wonderful beauties of melody, harmony, and tone-colouring are to a great extent discounted by ineffective presentation. It is a very great pity, and it suggests that Bruckner probably made a mistake in ranging himself among the classicists. This new wine seems to burst the bottles of the old forms, and so a vintage that in its essential quality is better than the Brahmsian is in the main [?] lost to us. Yet we feel that a word of thanks is due to Dr. Richter for letting us hear this beautiful if imperfect work; for we find in it more genius than in any other composition played for the first time at the Hallé Concerts since Dr. Richter became their conductor. To one movement of the four–the Scherzo–the foregoing objections do nit apply. The Scherzo is clear and satisfactory in form, and it is quite pr[?]able that if given alone it would please the Hallé audience. Yesterday as a short section of a too [?] long work–the Symphony occupied 55 minutes–th[at?] was in the main found wearisome it seemed to pass [?] almost unnoticed.
The A major Concerto by Liszt [... Friedheim ... Muriel Foster mit Bach und Elgar ...].
PART I.
[... Cherubini, Bach, Liszt, Elgar ...]
PART II
Symphony, No. 7, in E . . . . . . . . Bruckner
Why was the Bruckner Symphony not a success in Manchester? Perhaps on general principles there is no need to hold any such inquity. But there are grounds for thinking that in this particular case it may lead to something instructive. In several important respects Anton Bruckner–a citizen of Vienna the symphonic city, for ever associated with the names of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms–deserves a place in the shining company of those masters. In invention, which is the matter of central importance, he is quite worthy to be compared with Schubert, and his music has the same kind of innocence and delicate ideality as Schubert's. His seventh, which is generally accepted as his most typical, Symphony shows genius on every page. Every scrap of the thematic invention is beautiful, and much of it has that rarest quality of sustained melodic life without repetition (cf. examples 3, 9, and 13 in yesterday'sprogramme). The harmony is all noble; free from Tschaikovskian fever and Brahmsian heaviness, it suggests a latter-day Schubert, standing in the same relation to Wagner as the actual Schubert's to Beethoven. The orchestration is highly interesting, the remarkable use of tuba colouring being new in symphonic music. Throughout the greater part of the work it is evident that the composer had Wagner's "Ring" more or less in mind. The end of the first movement recalls the final scene of "Die Walküre," there are echoes of the "Walkürenritt" in the Scherzo, especially in the trumpet theme, and in the delicate animation of the music at the opening of the Finale a listener who knows the "Ring" well is inevitably carried back to the forest music of "Siegfried." Yet in all this there is no plagiarism; for the Wagnerian echoes simply form part of the humbler composer's dream-world, and when he symphonises in memory of Wagner it is very much as if Hans Andersen had chosen to entertain his youthful audiences with stories from Shakespeare, and had adapted his "Ugly Duckling" and "Emperor's New Clothes" to the language and atmosphere of Shakespere [sic] Land. Why then does this music, with its glow and freshness, affording a most beneficial change from the prevalent fever and ofret [?] of modern music, commonly fall flat? The probable reason is that Bruckner was no musical architect–that if he was strong in inventing good musical material he was correspondingly weak in throwing that material into satisfactory form. His movements lack balance and continuity. Much too often the entire orchestra comes to a full stop and has to make a completely fresh start. The wonderful beauties of melody, harmony, and tone-colouring are to a great extent discounted by ineffective presentation. It is a very great pity, and it suggests that Bruckner probably made a mistake in ranging himself among the classicists. This new wine seems to burst the bottles of the old forms, and so a vintage that in its essential quality is better than the Brahmsian is in the main [?] lost to us. Yet we feel that a word of thanks is due to Dr. Richter for letting us hear this beautiful if imperfect work; for we find in it more genius than in any other composition played for the first time at the Hallé Concerts since Dr. Richter became their conductor. To one movement of the four–the Scherzo–the foregoing objections do nit apply. The Scherzo is clear and satisfactory in form, and it is quite pr[?]able that if given alone it would please the Hallé audience. Yesterday as a short section of a too [?] long work–the Symphony occupied 55 minutes–th[at?] was in the main found wearisome it seemed to pass [?] almost unnoticed.
The A major Concerto by Liszt [... Friedheim ... Muriel Foster mit Bach und Elgar ...].
Next week Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony" stands first on the programme. Mr. Béla Bartók will be the pianoforte soloist." [keine Signatur].
Zitierhinweis:
Franz Scheder, Anton Bruckner Chronologie Datenbank, Eintrag Nr.: 190402125, URL: www.bruckner-online.at/ABCD-190402125letzte Änderung: Feb 02, 2023, 11:11