Symphony No. 2 (Bruckner)
| Symphony No. 2 | |
|---|---|
| by Anton Bruckner | |
A portrait of Anton Bruckner, c. 1860
|
|
| Key | C minor |
| Catalogue | WAB 102 |
| Composed |
|
| Published |
1892
|
| Recorded | 1953 |
| Movements | 4 |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 26 October 1873 |
| Location | Vienna |
| Conductor | Bruckner |
| Performers | Vienna Philharmonic |
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 2 in C minor was completed in 1872, and revised, like most of Bruckner's other symphonies, at various points thereafter. This work is sometimes known as the "Symphony of Pauses".
It was composed after the Symphony "No. 0" in D minor (which was itself composed after the Symphony No. 1 in C minor). It is the only "official" Bruckner symphony (that is to say, excluding "No. 0") without a dedication: Franz Liszt tacitly rejected the dedication, and Richard Wagner chose the Symphony No. 3 in D minor instead. The premiere was given with Bruckner himself conducting in 1873.
The score calls for a pair each of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, and strings.
The symphony has four movements:
This version has been published in an edition by William Carragan (published 2005). In this version, the Scherzo and slow movement are swapped, the scherzo preceding. It has been recorded by Kurt Eichhorn, Georg Tintner, Simone Young, and Herbert Blomstedt. "Bruckner's mania for revision sometimes bore positive fruits … , but with other works such as the Second and the Third his first versions seem to me the best."
This version, which was used at the premiere, replaces the horn in a solo at the end of the Adagio, considered unplayable by the hornplayer, by a clarinet and the viola section, deletes repeats in the scherzo and replaces a "very dissonant section of the development" in the Finale. This version has been recorded by Kurt Eichhorn.
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