Composers and arrangers - links to biographies, photos

Almond, Mark J Cooper, Philip Gough, Christopher Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Smith, Andrew J
Ashworth, Bob Dvorak, Antonin Granados, Enrique Peet, Nicky Stanford, C V
Bach, Johann Sebastian Fauré, Gabriel Greig, Murray Procter-Gregg, Humphrey Stuart, Mary
Barrett, Tim Foley, Dean Handel, Georg Frederick Punto, Giovanni Verdi, Guiseppe
Bruckner, Anton Fox, Adrienne Houlding, Christopher Randall, Anthony Wagner, Richard
Butterworth, Arthur Furse, Edward Kennedy, Philip Rossini, Gioacchino Wild, Stephen
Clements, Dominy Gabrieli, Giovanni Maffon, Frantisek Richards, Peter Wyly, Liz
Cleaver, Michael Garland, Chris Mendelssohn, Felix Scarfe, Douglas Yates, Lawrence
         

Bruckner, Anton (1824-1896)

Josef Anton Bruckner (1824–1896) was an Austrian composer known primarily for his symphonies, masses, and motets. His father was a schoolteacher and church organist, and Bruckner's initial studies followed similar lines. When Bruckner was 13, his father died, and he enrolled in the church school at St. Florian (some ten miles from Linz) as a chorister. There, he studied organ, piano, and music theory. At the age of 16, he entered a teacher-training school in Linz, and began work as a schoolteacher at St. Florian in 1845. He became the cathedral organist in 1848. At St. Florian he began to compose sacred music. In 1855, he went to Vienna to formally study harmony and counterpoint at the Vienna Conservatory under Professor Simon Sechter. The next year, he became the cathedral organist in Linz, and began studies in orchestration with Otto Kitzler, a cellist who introduced Bruckner to Wagner's operas.

His symphonies are often considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length. Bruckner's compositions helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and roving harmonies. Unlike other radicals, such as Wagner or Hugo Wolf who fit the enfant terrible mold, Bruckner showed extreme humility before other musicians, Wagner in particular. This apparent dichotomy between Bruckner the man and Bruckner the composer hampers efforts to describe his life in a way that gives a straightforward context for his music.

 

Anton Bruckner

Compositions in catalogue

Catalogue no.

Price £

      

Composer/arranger
 
       

Horn Club series
       

Four horns
       
Christus factus est
0104001
7.50
   Review   Bruckner / Ashworth
 
       

Eight horns
       
Os Justi
0108006
12.00
       Bruckner / Ashworth
Ave Maria
0108007
12.00
       Bruckner / Ashworth
 
       

Ten horns
       
Forth Fantasy
0110001
20.00
       Bruckner / Barrett