An informative and entertaining audio-visual concert at the Stiftskirche St. Florian, Austria (1996) with the Wiener Philharmonic conducted by Pierre Boulez and hosted by Habakuk Traber who analyzes the composer Anton Bruckner's life and most famous works. Anton Bruckner - Symphony No. 8 in C minor 4:45 I. Allegro moderato 13:03 II. Scherzo. Allegro moderato - Trio. Langsam 17:34 III. Adagio. Feierlich langsam, doch nich schleppend 23:24 IV. Finale. Feierlich, nicht schnell Immense, intricate and formidably difficult, Bruckner's Eighth Symphony has forged a reputation as something of a behemoth. Composed between 1884 and 1890, it was his last completed symphony, and has provoked considarable controversy since its inception. The influential critic Eduard Hanslick (1825-1904) left the premiere early, ramarking in his review that he found the work 'interesting in detail, but strange as a whole, indeed repellent'. Yet the composer Hugo Wolf (1860-1903), also in the audience, announced his opinion in terms of unqualified praise: 'this symphony is the creation of a giant, surpassing all the master's other symphonies in its spiritual dimension and awesome grandeur.' The weil-known Berlin based author and journalist Habakuk Traber expertly navigates a path for the viewer through the complex history and substance of this gloriously titanic and much-disputed work. The documentary describes the troubled genesis of the work, recounting how it was rejected by the conductor Hermann Levi, Bruckner's friend and close colleague, before being extensively revised by the composer. The viewer is guided through the extraordinarily elaborate structure of the work, identifying the ways in which it reinvents traditional symphonic form, and how it differs from Bruckner's other symphonies. It is illustrated how Bruckner builds up each theme from simple motivic cells to the soaring, lyrical melodies of the finished work, exploring the symphony's shifting tonal relations anti chromatic harmonies. Although Bruckner did not write a programme per se, he did outline some extra-musical ideas about the symphony in a letter to the conductor Felix Weingartner (1863-1942). The documentary quotes extensively from this letter, further illuminating the meaning of the work. It also identifies the influence of Wagner, especially of several passages from Tristan and Isolde, noting that the elder composer died just one year before Bruckner embarked upon the Eighth Symphony. The important role that religion played in Bruckner's life is also explored - he was a devout Catholic, and several passages in the Eighth are heavily reminiscent of church music. Watch more episodes of the series "Discovering Masterpieces of Classical Music": goo.gl/KBV6cR Subscribe to EuroArts: goo.gl/jrui3M

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