Herbert von Karajan


1 LP - 2530 674 - (p) 1976
1 CD - 415 277-2 - (c) 1985

ANTON BRUCKNER (1824-1896)






Symphonie Nr. 4 Es-dur "Romantische"
63' 56"
Versione: 1880: edizione: Robert Haas


- 1. Bewegt, nicht su schnell 18' 17"

- 2. Andante quasi Allegretto 14' 29"

- 3. Scherzo. Bewegt 10' 43"

- 4. Finale. Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell 20' 27"





 
Berliner Philharmoniker
Herbert von KARAJAN
 






Luogo e data di registrazione
Philharmonie, Berlino (Germania) - aprile 1975

Registrazione: live / studio
studio

Production
Dr. Hans Hirsch, Magdalene Padberg

Recording Supervision
Michel Glotz

Recording Engineer
Günter Hermanns

Prima Edizione LP
Deutsche Grammophon - 2530 674 - (1 LP) - durata 63' 56" - (p) 1976 - Analogico

Prima Edizione CD
Deutsche Grammophon - 415 277-2 - (1 CD) - durata 63' 56" - (c) 1985 - ADD

Note
Cover Design: Holger Matthies, Hamburg













Anton Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony, known as the “Romantic”, which he composed in 1874 and substantially revised between 1878 and 1880, has always been the most popular of all his works. During Bruckner’s lifetime the Fourth, together with the Seventh, received more performances than any of his other symphonies; the world première of the Fourth, which took place in Vienna on 20 February 1881, was a great success (especially striking after the failure of the Third), and Bruckner considered this to be the “most understandable” of his works. Undoubtedly the popularity of this symphony derives from its well-judged formal structure, its mode of expression, the immediacy of its melodic ideas, and the radiance of its tone colours. The fact that the “Romantic” represents in some ways a turning point in its composer’s symphonic writing is indicated initially by “technical” details: it is not only Bruckner’s first symphony in a major key (the five preceding symphonies are all in minor keys), but also his first symphonic work in which the alternation of major and minor, above all the blending of their characteristic moods - particularly the overclouding of major tonality by elements of the minor, so characteristic of romantic harmony - has become so prominent that it ranks as a constructive principle. (This is especially clear, for example, in the principal theme of the first movement, or in the second subject of the Finale, at C in the score). It is within the bounds of possibility that it was partly this aspect of the work, combined with Bruckner’s predilection for the sound of horns and for a sense of mystery, which caused him to give this Fourth Symphony the name “The Romantic”, with its many shades of meaning. It would scarcely be possible to overlook the strong affinity which this symphony has with the early romantic sound world of Schubert and Weber, while on the other hand it also bears witness to the powerful influence of Wagner, especially in the outer movements (to mention only one example, the splendid chorale-like brass passage in the development of the first movement, 18 bars after K).
In the case of the Fourth Symphony the question inevitably arises concerning the programmatic associations of Bruckner’s symphonic writing. In conversation with his friends and in letters, Bruckner later made hermeneutic explanations (or rather suggestions) concerning this work. As with the Eighth, these do not by any means constitute an organized programme, and they are of far less importance than the work’s purely musical contents. In conjunction with other observations, however, they indicate that extra-musical impulses played a certain part in the process of composition. This is true, for example, as regards the lyrical second theme of the first movement (at B), whose motif kernel, the three notes F2-F2-A1 Bruckner referred to as the chirping (“zi-zi-bee”) of the forest tomtit, while the counter-melody of the viola expresses, according to T, Helm, “one’s own feeling of joy at being able to listen to such charming voices of nature in the woods”. Pictorial images also seem to have influenced Bruckner when he composed the hunting Scherzo and the Finale, to which he gave the title “Popular Festival” in the first revision of 1878. A comparison with Beethoven’s “Pastoral” inevitably suggests itself, despite the fact that the elements of tone poetry in the Fourth are of an entirely different order. While the extra-musical impulses are of undoubted importance, the “Romantic” cannot be considered an out-and-out German programmatic symphony: both the formal layout of the work and its entire construction contain, apart from a few motif ideas, no peculiarities or anomalies which can be explained only by reference to a detailed programme. Typically enough, Bruckner’s outline of the first movement gives no more than a general idea of the ideas behind it: “Medieval town - dawn - morning calls are heard from the towers - the gates open - knights ride out on proud horses, the magic of the woodland surrounds them - forest murmurs - birdsong - so the romantic picture unfolds itself.” (It is evidently on the basis of this programmatic sketch that the “Romantic” has been described as a “Forest Symphony”, and its contents are sometimes considered to represent the “mysticism of nature”.)
In the C minor Andante the unmistakable features of a funeral march come to the fore. They give the elegiac principal subject its character, while the transitional section (if the passage at B may be so described) and second theme (i.e. the expressive viola melody with pizzicato accompaniment) are chorale-like. Of the two climaxes in the principal theme (at E in the development and at M in the Coda) the second is far greater in intensity than the first.
The Scherzo and Trio of the original version were replaced by entirely new pieces when the work was revised in 1878. The somewhat impressionistic B flat major Scherzo of the final version, which is based on two themes, is far more than a mere hunting piece, and even the far simpler, surprisingly delicate, ländler-like Trio in G flat major belongs to a realm of expression far removed from that suggested by the original heading of the piece “Dance tune at mealtime on the hunt”.
The Finale exists in no fewer than three different versions. At the last revision of 1880 this movement was so drastically rewritten that it completely lost the cheerful character which it had possessed in the first version. Not only were several of the original melodic ideas replaced by new, sometimes dramatic and even demoniac elements, but certain sections took on darker colouring, and therefore wholly different characteristics. Among other new features there is the return of the horn fanfares from the Scherzo during the extensive crescendo which introduces the weighty principal theme of the Finale, played in unison. The very idea of transferring the earlier title “Popular Festival” to this movement, which is now full of strong contrasts and powerful tensions, would be strikingly ironical.
Constantin Floros
(Translated from the German)