Bruckner: Symphony No. 8

The sudden fame that bolstered the composer's perpetually fragile self-confidence may have influenced the creation of Anton Bruckner's Eighth Symphony: the renowned conductor Hermann Levi had hailed him as the "greatest symphonist since Beethoven" after the performance of his Seventh Symphony, in Munich Bruckner, who was often ridiculed in Vienna, was finally taken seriously, his importance recognized, and the Emperor of Austria had awarded him the Franz Joseph Order, which filled Bruckner with particular pride. In the summer of 1884, he set to work. With C minor, he returned to the key of his first two symphonies—a key that had been particularly shaped by Beethoven's Fifth and which almost dared him. He wanted to create the greatest instrumental symphony of all time; its scope grew to gigantic proportions. The incomparably boldly conceived finale is perhaps the longest sonata movement ever composed: "the most important movement of my life," Bruckner said. Where towards the end the main themes of all four movements sound simultaneously, he wrote an euphoric "Hallelujah!" in his draft. Bruckner's Eighth Symphony is now a firm part of the symphonic repertoire, but it still demands the utmost from performers. Mariss Jansons and the musicians of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra are, of course, more than capable of meeting the extraordinary demands of this masterpiece. The live recording of the Munich concert event from November 2017 is now already available from the BR-Klassik label: a model interpretation of one of the most important compositions in the late Romantic symphonic repertoire in its 1890 version.