Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Bruckner and No. 5

The number 5 keeps coming in our curated playlist

Charles Demuth's I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold
Charles Demuth's I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold

Playlist No. 5 has gone from Beethoven 5 to Mahler 5 to Tchaikovsky 5 to Sibelius 5 and now to Bruckner 5. A more logical step would be to continue into the 20th Century with Prokofiev 5 or Shostakovich 5 but I feel as though Bruckner and Sibelius have more in common as composers.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

Bruckner No. 5

...Celibidache, MPO, 1985

...Celibidache, MPO, 1985

The mature compositions of both Sibelius and Bruckner can be difficult to “get into,” for lack of a better term. This music makes certain demands of attention and maturity from the listener, which isn’t often required in the music of other composers such as Brahms, Schumann, or even Mahler.

Where can we start with Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5. As with any Bruckner symphony, it’s a behemoth. Let’s have a word from the book of Job about the behemoth.

“Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly! Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit. Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron. It ranks first among the works of God.”

It would appear that Job understood Bruckner.

Our friend Wittgenstein thought Bruckner’s music would be ideal for the cinema and to a certain point that’s the case. Here’s the thing with listening to Bruckner. His music is so cinematic that we often expect him to go, what I’m calling, “Full Hollywood.”

We listen to Bruckner and start expecting a Hollywood-type direction in the development of the themes and harmonics, but he never goes that way. When first listening to Bruckner it can be something of a nuisance.

For instance, in the second movement of Bruckner 5 the low strings enter with a gorgeous chorale near the top of the movement. As Bruckner begins developing this music we expect him to fulfill it in a Hollywood-type manner, but he does not. Instead of wrapping it up in a nice tidy scene, Bruckner leaves us hanging.

How does he leave us hanging? He resolves the tension with a climax that arrives instead of lands. Believe it or not, we like music that climbs, reaches the top, comes back down, and then lands. We find that to be fulfilling. I don’t know why.

Bruckner’s music continues to climb, reaches a new height, and then another, and then stays at the top. It never comes back down. He leaves us up in the air. This is not a Hollywood ending and it is all the more interesting because of it.

The video joining our list is none other than Sergiu Celibidache conducting the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Operatic Gender Wars

Are there any operas with all-female choruses?
Charles Demuth's I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold
Charles Demuth's I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold

Playlist No. 5 has gone from Beethoven 5 to Mahler 5 to Tchaikovsky 5 to Sibelius 5 and now to Bruckner 5. A more logical step would be to continue into the 20th Century with Prokofiev 5 or Shostakovich 5 but I feel as though Bruckner and Sibelius have more in common as composers.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

Bruckner No. 5

...Celibidache, MPO, 1985

...Celibidache, MPO, 1985

The mature compositions of both Sibelius and Bruckner can be difficult to “get into,” for lack of a better term. This music makes certain demands of attention and maturity from the listener, which isn’t often required in the music of other composers such as Brahms, Schumann, or even Mahler.

Where can we start with Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5. As with any Bruckner symphony, it’s a behemoth. Let’s have a word from the book of Job about the behemoth.

“Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly! Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit. Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron. It ranks first among the works of God.”

It would appear that Job understood Bruckner.

Our friend Wittgenstein thought Bruckner’s music would be ideal for the cinema and to a certain point that’s the case. Here’s the thing with listening to Bruckner. His music is so cinematic that we often expect him to go, what I’m calling, “Full Hollywood.”

We listen to Bruckner and start expecting a Hollywood-type direction in the development of the themes and harmonics, but he never goes that way. When first listening to Bruckner it can be something of a nuisance.

For instance, in the second movement of Bruckner 5 the low strings enter with a gorgeous chorale near the top of the movement. As Bruckner begins developing this music we expect him to fulfill it in a Hollywood-type manner, but he does not. Instead of wrapping it up in a nice tidy scene, Bruckner leaves us hanging.

How does he leave us hanging? He resolves the tension with a climax that arrives instead of lands. Believe it or not, we like music that climbs, reaches the top, comes back down, and then lands. We find that to be fulfilling. I don’t know why.

Bruckner’s music continues to climb, reaches a new height, and then another, and then stays at the top. It never comes back down. He leaves us up in the air. This is not a Hollywood ending and it is all the more interesting because of it.

The video joining our list is none other than Sergiu Celibidache conducting the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Hockey Dad brings UCSD vets and Australians to the Quartyard

Bending the stage barriers in East Village
Next Article

Born & Raised offers a less decadent Holiday Punch

Cognac serves to lighten the mood
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader