Bruckner

by Derek Watson

Profiles the personal life and musical career of the nineteenth-century Austrian composer, highlighting his relationships with such contemporaries as Wagner and Brahms, and analyzes each of his works in detail

Genres: Music

Hardcover

First published December 12, 1996

Reviews

[Evan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Austrian composer Anton Bruckner was a contemporary of Brahms and Wagner, and like them was one of the great composers of the latter half of the 19th century, but his massive-scaled "formless" slowly developing and lengthy symphonic works were not as popular as those of his more vaunted contemporaries and frequently misunderstood. In this book, Watson says Bruckner represented the greatest advance in symphonic music since Beethoven, and having a great grasp of all the musical forms and trends of that time Watson makes a convincing case. As it is, Bruckner is one of my favorite composers (I have multiple recordings of all of his nine symphonies; the massive 8th being his greatest); even today many people don't know what to make of his music.

This is often cited as the best overview available of Bruckner's life and work. The biography is a competent recitation of the facts but is bloodless and passionless. Bruckner himself was a bit of a staid character, deeply religious and humble, but there must be some way of more deeply examining his life. His constant rejection by women--or more accurately, young girls, which he seemed to favor--is something touched upon but not analyzed. It's quite possible that Bruckner died a virgin, though Watson does not state this. While claiming he was not a prude, the one instance where an overtly sensual act toward him occurred (a scantily clad girl was sent to his room as a joke by some choral peers) he was deeply offended. It's possible that Bruckner was seeking an unrealizable ideal, sort of like in his music; a connection between the two is never touched upon by Watson. The author mentions Bruckner's loneliness and a brief period of insanity, but never satisfactorily tackles the causes and implications. Perhaps Watson felt safer sticking to the basics rather than engaging in speculation. I can't help but feel, though, that there must be more letters, dairies or other records out there that would provide a rounder portrait of this somewhat mysterious individual.

The analysis of the works that comprises the second half of the book is insightful and thorough, but seems mainly geared to musicologists. Watson is a great defender of Bruckner, pointing out the errors and misconceptions forwarded by past enemies and critics, but that does not mean that Watson is a blind champion -- when there's something wrong or not working in a Bruckner symphonic composition he points it out. But, as a biography, this was kind of blah. A truly great biography of this unique master of music remains to be written.

[Brandon Rittenour · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pure, barebones factuality of the biography and the tight brevity of Watson’s musical analysis left me feeling shortchanged on both accounts. Perhaps my expectations were too high, for what I did read I appreciated. As fellow reviewer Evan expressed, you have to imagine there are more sources to be cited to add depth to the biography. Either way, expect to be provided the essential biographical facts and a summary analysis of Bruckner’s major choral, symphonic, and chamber works, and you won’t be disappointed.