Archive: Bruckner's Unfinished

Wien Musikverein Großer Saal Musikverein | Großer Saal

Instrumentation

  • Mayumi Miyata, sho
  • Yutaka Sado, conductor

Programmes

Toru Takemitsu
«Ceremonial. An Autumn Ode» for Orchestra with Shô

Unfinished works by great masters possess an appeal that is hard to put into words. It can reach almost mystical dimensions if the creator died before finishing it. Just think of Mozart’s Requiem and Schubert’s «Unfinished Symphony». The same is true for Anton Bruckner’s ninth symphony. He was able to complete three movements. But on 11 October 1896, after working on the Finale in his flat at Belvedere palace in the morning, the 71-year-old composer succumbed to his serious illness. Bruckner reportedly planned to dedicate the symphony to «the Dear Lord», which indicates that he intended his «Ninth» as a farewell piece. Saying goodbye is also the subject of the late work «Ceremonial. An Autumn Ode» by Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, which was first performed in 1992. The Tonkunstler will play this piece under the direction of Music Director Yutaka Sado before Bruckner’s imposing opus. The engrossed interplay between the orchestra and the shō – a mouth organ with a millennia-old tradition in Japanese court music – unfolds a quiet, moving intensity which occasions an optimistic meeting between eastern and western sounds.

My Visit

0 Entries Entry

Suggested visit time:

Send List
Anton Bruckner

Symphony No. 9 in d minor

Movements

  • Feierlich; misterioso

  • Scherzo. Bewegt; lebhaft - Trio. Schnell

  • Adagio. Langsam; feierlich

Duration

60 Min.

Creation

1887-1896