BRUCKNER, Anton
b Ansfelden, Upper Austria, 4 September 1824
d Vienna, 11 October 1896, aged seventy-two

He was born into a family of schoolteachers and educated as a chorister at St Florian monastery, where he learned violin, piano, organ and theory. He became a teacher in the same school, an occupation that restricted his development as a composer. In 1856 he became organist at Linz, travelling to Vienna for further study. Unsure of his capacity, he did not commence mature writing until he was well into his thirties. He taught counterpoint and organ at Vienna Conservatory in 1868, becoming professor there in 1871. He made pilgrimages to Bayreuth and became an ardent Wagnerian; this showed in his work and alienated the followers of Brahms, who tended to be critical of Wagner. As a result his compositions received a mixed reception. In 1891 he resigned from the Conservatory, which gave him an honorary doctor of philosophy degree. He retired from public life and continued working on his Ninth Symphony, which he never finished, until the day of his death.

1849 (25)

Requiem in D minor

1854 (30)

Solemn Mass in B flat major

1863 (39)

Symphony in F minor (unnumbered, known as No 00)

Overture in G minor

Germanenzug, for chorus and brass

1864 (40)

Symphony in D minor (known as No 0, revised 1869)

Mass No 1 in D minor

Um Mitternacht, for male-voice chorus

1866 (42)

Symphony No 1 in C minor (revised 1891)

Mass No 2 in E minor

1868 (44)

Mass No 3 in F minor, Grosse Messe (revised 1871 and 1890)

1869 (45)

'Locus iste', motet

1871 (47)

'Os Justi', motet

1872 (48)

Symphony No 2 in C minor (revised 1891)

1873 (49)

Symphony No 3 in D minor, Wagner (revised 1877 and 1888)

1874 (50)

Symphony No 4 in Eb major, Romantic (revised 1890)

1877 (53)

Symphony No 5 in Bb major (revised 1878)

1878 (54)

Abendzauber, for baritone and male chorus

1879 (55)

String Quartet

1881 (57)

Symphony No 6 in A major

1883 (59)

Symphony No 7 in E major

1884 (60)

Symphony No 8 in C minor, Apocalyptic (possibly 1887, revised 1890)

Te Deum

1894 (70)

Symphony No 9 in D minor (unfinished, fp 1903)