Bruckner's symphonies in their original sound
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Although the Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, to which Anton Bruckner himself gave the title "Romantic", thus formally inviting an illustrative understanding of the music, is one of his most frequently performed works, this does not apply to its original version, composed in 1874 and revised in 1876, whose enormous technical demands stood in the way of its dissemination from the outset. As the last of all Bruckner symphonies, the "1874 version" of the 'Fourth' was not premiered until 20 . September 1975, which took place in the Brucknerhaus Linz.

The symphony is preceded by two further works whose aim, already stated in the title, is to paint romantic moods in transfiguring tones. The first is the Ouverture romantique by Béla Kéler, who, like Bruckner and probably at the same time as him in 1855/56, was a pupil of Simon Sechter in Vienna and specialized in the production of dances and marches. Kéler's Mazzuchelli March was long wrongly attributed to Bruckner as the Apollo March and even included in his catalog of works, although it only served as a model for the composition of Bruckner's own March in E flat major for military music. Benjamin Godard's Concerto romantique takes the theme from the perspective of the French virtuoso concerto and was, perhaps for this very reason, extremely popular at the time.

Under the baton of star conductor Kent Nagano, Concerto Köln, which has been one of the top ensembles for historical performance practice for almost 40 years and whose concertmaster Shunske Sato is also the soloist in the violin concerto, will explore the question of what the catchword "Romantic" meant musically in the 1870s and will introduce the audience to the entire tonal spectrum of Romanticism using three examples.

Béla Kéler (1820-1882)

Ouverture romantique for orchestra, op. 75 (1872)

Benjamin Godard (1849-1895)

Concerto romantique for violin and orchestra in A minor, op. 35 (1876)

- Pause -

Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)

Symphony No. 4 ("Romantic") in E-flat Major, WAB 104 (1874, 1876) "Version 1874"

Shunske Sato | Violin

Concerto Cologne

Kent Nagano | Conductor