Has anyone else had the doubtful pleasure to play Anton Bruckners No.4 Symphony ? Well, not the heavenly no.4 The Romantic with the delicate beginning & the rushing hunting Scherzo for the horns, I mean the Ur-Fassung from 1874, nicknamed perhaps as "the-better-destroyed". It is a hell of soli for the principal horn, very few moderately demanding spots for the rest of the section, but as thick instrumentated as possible, a symphony without any possibility to move the audience, just a lot to play during one hour & fiveteen minutes = 75 minutes. It sounds like terribly boring music even when played right. Might this be caused by the gentleman infront of the orchestra perhaps ? Could be. I better do not reveal his name, but he is known for his exhumations of dead horses. The pieces sounds like it were "Wolfgang Riehms Variations on Bruckner", but sorry, it is too good for W.Riehm. You know, some conductors make the press well-disposed toward them by programming pieces by their (fashion) friends composers, and, then they cannot be compared with others. That´s the reason exactly.
I never expected to play such garbage near the end of my carreer. No wonder, this Ur-Fassung had to be rewritten completely, really completely. _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
