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Bruckner: Symphonie no.7, 2nd movement: Adagio
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Form scheme
2nd movement |
Three weeks before Wagner's death on February 13th, 1883 in Venice, Bruckner began to work at this movement, while being filled with forebodings of Richard Wagner's imminent death. In a letter to Felix Mottl (cf. "Österreich-Lexikon") he wrote, "Once I came home and was very sad; I thought that the master could not go on living much longer; then the C-sharp minor Adagio came to my mind."
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bars 1-9
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Four Wagner tubas - this is their first use in a symphony orchestra - intune the
dirge-like main theme of the movement. This part has parallels in the history of European music: in the funeral march of Beethoven's 3rd symphony, the "Eroica", and in the music after Siegfried's death in Wagner's opera "Götterdämmerung". Anton Bruckner wrote absolute music, i.e. the meaning of the music lies in itself. An explanation of his music is contained in the main theme of this movement. The three-tone rise in the 4th and 5th bars of this theme has a parallel in his Te Deum, where he uses this sequence for the words "Non confundar in aeternum", which means: "I shall not be confounded in eternity."
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bars 18-30
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The conclusion of the main theme is contained in the bridge, which rises to great heights and finishes in pianissimo, thus corresponding to the basic theme of the movement.
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bars 37-44
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The secondary theme in F-sharp major radiates an almost Mozartian beauty. It expresses the certainty of redemption; altogether this mourning music is based on a spirit of consolation in which Bruckner's religious sense finds a convincing expression.
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bars 157-164
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The codetta restates the main theme, presented by Wagner tubas and bass strings. The first violins weave around the main theme in sextuples. Immediately after the first intoning of the main theme, the three-tone motif "Non confundar" is extrapolated and led to a climax in extreme fortissimo which is unparalleled in the history of music.
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bars 170-182
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In gradual crescendos the climax is reached - a C-major chord, marked by the setting in of cymbals and triangle. In Bruckner's autograph this passage originally contained neither drums nor triangle nor cymbals. For the first print a small note was added inserting these instruments for the C-major climax. Bruckner is said to have been inspired by the conductor Arthur Nikisch (cf. "Österreich-Lexikon") . Above the insertion, however, there is a further notice in Bruckner's handwriting: "to be cancelled", thus retracting his first intention. But as there is a parallel passage with cymbal strokes in his 9th Symphony, this version with the "cymbal stroke" is played in most performances all over the world.
Just when Bruckner had composed the C-major climax, the news of Richard Wagner's death in Venice reached Vienna. Bruckner himself talked about it to his friend Theodor Helm (cf. "Österreich-Lexikon") , "Look, this is how far I had proceeded when the the bulletin from Venice reached the Conservatory on February 14th, 1883 - then I cried, oh, how bitterly - and only then I wrote the real mourning music for the master."
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bars 184-188
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In the Coda containing the mourning music the Wagner tubas resume the "Non confundar" motif - written down under the immediate impact of the death news. The movement closes with the main theme.
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