Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 + 7 / Te Deum

This album is the penultimate release in a six-part edition of the music of Anton Bruckner, which includes his Sixth and Seventh Symphonies as well as the "Te Deum." The series owes its unprecedented success to executive producer and recording engineer Lani Spahr. He conceived and designed the series in collaboration with Professor Ben Korstvedt, the author of the booklet notes, and John F. Berky of the Bruckner Society of America. Bruckner considered his Symphony No. 6 in A major (1881) to be his boldest, his "cheekiest" symphony. The original version of Bruckner's score was not published until 1935 and is presented here in a 1961 recording, with Christoph von Dohnanyi conducting the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra. Symphony No. 7 in E major (1885) brought Bruckner his public breakthrough. Included here is a 1955 recording by what was then the South German Radio Symphony Orchestra (now the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra) under the direction of its long-time music director Hans Müller-Kray. The third work on this album is Anton Bruckner's "Te Deum" (1884), which was composed at the same time as his Seventh Symphony. Herbert von Karajan conducts the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna Singverein.