There is not one Bruckner, but several. And when I write this, I mean him in his sounds from the "Pange linqua" of the teenager to the unfinished 9th Symphony of the terminally ill, from the church to the pub, from Ansfelden to New York, where his "Third" was already played during his lifetime, from earth to heaven and back.
I mean a heroic one, a doubting one, an enigmatic one, a pondering one, one for whom a single tremolo is enough to open up a space, one who understands the violence of the deluge, one who trusts in dance, one who bows to tradition, sings in between, one who finds security in the craft in order to expand the rules and the space into infinity, someone who, like few before him, does not find his drama in drama, but in a forest that is not a forest, someone who also wants to penetrate the essence and mystery of nature, someone who does not accept the border in order to move walls or prove permeability, someone who loses his ego in the machine room of music in order to create space for himself and us.
There is not one Bruckner, but several. I have to write this sentence again and I mean the person, the figure, the personality, which could not be more contemporary in its disparity. A man who never gave up, who even in the greatest defeat tries to take the next step, who seems to trust doubt like no other, who follows his destiny with self-assurance. Bruckner is elusive and that is a good thing.
A work should never be confused with its creator. Trying to grasp Bruckner as a person requires an examination. A few books on the shelf should not obscure the fact that the constructive achievement of his symphonies required a highly intellectual, ingenious mind that was trained and exposed throughout his life. The apparent clumsiness in his handling should not make us forget how prominently he planned his funeral and managed it for posterity.
There is not one Bruckner, and there is us. This year, Bruckner the man leads us into the multifaceted now - and even more importantly, he brings us together, he sets us in motion. His music always leads us into the moment anyway. Music cannot do otherwise. "The task of art is to open doors where no one sees them," said Peter Weibel, another great Upper Austrian. This year we see, open and pass through many doors. They are openings to us and to the world.
