Bruckner's symphonies in their original sound
Exaggerate

The Symphony No. 8 in C minor is "one of the most astonishing creations not only of Bruckner, but of the entire symphonic world literature; it has rightly been called 'the crown of 19th century music'." This judgment applies to the "1890 version" premiered in 1892, whereas it was to take until 1973 before the "1887 version" was performed for the first time. Anton Bruckner had begun this version in the summer of 1884 and, after its completion on 10 August 1887, sent it to the conductor Hermann Levi, who was perplexed by the huge score and advised a reworking, which the deeply affected composer finally undertook, as he had to recognize that the dimensions of the symphony exceeded any contemporary imagination. In it, the first movement is followed by the Scherzo, moving the slow movement, in which, uniquely for Bruckner, the harp is used, to the third position, while at the end of the monumental finale the themes of all four movements are bundled together and sound simultaneously in vertical layering.

The 'Eighth' is preceded by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber's famous Battalia, a lavishly scored musical battle painting, which in its exaggeration is certainly related to the symphony and thematically also builds a bridge to Bruckner's own program-musical interpretation of its finale, in which he claimed to have set the "Ride of the Cossacks", "military music" and "fanfares" to music.

These two masterpieces, which represent the Mount Everest of their respective genres, will be performed by Ars Antiqua Austria, Gunar Letzbor's ensemble for new baroque music, and the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées under its founder and director Philippe Herreweghe, two absolute top formations in the field of historical performance practice.

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644-1704)

Battalia. Suite in D major, C 61 (1673)

Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)

Symphony No. 8 in C minor, WAB 108 (1884-87) "1887 version".

Ars Antiqua Austria

Gunar Letzbor | Violin & Direction

Orchestre des Champs-Élysées

Philippe Herreweghe | Conductor