Bruckner

[jayne lee wilson]

What? Duck Duck Go it, surely?

Oh you know, whatever it takes..... its a free virtual universe....way we're going might be a good thing if (real or virtual) it stopped expanding and collapsed back in upon us egocentric human animals just as soon as it can....

"A Republic of Insects and Grass"..... maybe a Rabbit or a Squirrel or something....

[Richard Barrett]

Believe it or not, I AM trying to make a serious point. I don't understand why it is apparently not possible to discuss a particular subject without regularly introducing vocabulary and concepts which at least some of us aren't familiar with and can't hope to grasp. While I'm always willing to learn, I don't necessarily want to have to jump over intellectual hurdles or through linguistic hoops before I feel I can make a useful contribution. I can only apologise if that appears unreasonable. (Perhaps I'm suffering from reductive infantilism, or, as we say in these parts, like to keep tings simple! )

We all write the way we write, I don't think anyone is being wilfully obscure, and everyone's happy to clarify if something isn't clear. And everyone is always learning from the others here, I think, it's not about gratuitous displays of erudition or anything like that.

[Leinster Lass]

We all write the way we write, I don't think anyone is being wilfully obscure, and everyone's happy to clarify if something isn't clear. And everyone is always learning from the others here, I think, it's not about gratuitous displays of erudition or anything like that.

May I just take time to thank everybody who answered, or attempted to answer, my innocent enquiry. As it's not at all clear where any further exploration on my part should start - dare I call it a running order? - and I wouldn't necessarily understand the reasons for any particular recommendation, I have concluded that I shan't actually miss much, if anything, by letting Anton proceed on his mystical, magisterial way without me. I shall head, more or less cheerfully, into the darkness without him.

Might it be helpful - it won't matter to me, but it might be helpful for other potential Brucknerphiles - if the various knowledgeable contributors .
to this lively and sometimes baffling discussion could agree among themselves as to which is the best symphony with which to start?

I'm happy to admit that I probably wouldn't recognise a 'gratuitous display of erudition' if even if it stared at me, Larry David-style, until I twigged what it was.

Sadly, I don't really have enough time to spend (waste) time googling every confusing word, phrase* or concept that crops up in some posts, and I must find time to continue to work my way through my book of (London) Times Cryptic Crosswords, which I find considerably less challenging - and then there's the Match Of The Day from Dublin at lunchtime

(* Duck Duck Go It = ? - it's OK, I don't imagine I'll ever encounter it again, let alone use it)

Apparently Roussel is worth investigating - well, at least he didn't write 11 lengthy symphonies!

[Alison]

I’d try the first two movements of 8 as a less than 45 min starter.

Wonderful music.

[Bryn]

I’d try the first two movements of 8 as a less than 45 min starter.

Wonderful music.

Lovers of Holst's Mars might try jumping in at the final movement of that same symphony (whichever version).

[kernelbogey]

(* Duck Duck Go It = ? - it's OK, I don't imagine I'll ever encounter it again, let alone use it)

It's an alternative search engine: www.duckduckgo.com

They don't mine your data.

[Pulcinella]

Lovers of Holst's Mars might try jumping in at the final movement of that same symphony (whichever version).

Even one that includes Pluto?

[Bryn]

Even one that includes Pluto?

The "whichever version" referred to the Bruckner (and no version of Holst's The Planets includes Pluto).

[Leinster Lass]

Even one that includes Pluto?

In views of its revised status, is it safe to assume that Pluto is written in a minor key?
I hope you haven't unwittingly triggered a debate on the order in which one must visit the heavenly bodies in question!

[Pulcinella]

The "whichever version" referred to the Bruckner (and no version of Holst's The Planets includes Pluto).

This one does, according to the front cover:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7926778--holst-the-planets-op-32-etc

[Ein Heldenleben]

May I just take time to thank everybody who answered, or attempted to answer, my innocent enquiry. As it's not at all clear where any further exploration on my part should start - dare I call it a running order? - and I wouldn't necessarily understand the reasons for any particular recommendation, I have concluded that I shan't actually miss much, if anything, by letting Anton proceed on his mystical, magisterial way without me. I shall head, more or less cheerfully, into the darkness without him.

Might it be helpful - it won't matter to me, but it might be helpful for other potential Brucknerphiles - if the various knowledgeable contributors .
to this lively and sometimes baffling discussion could agree among themselves as to which is the best symphony with which to start?

I'm happy to admit that I probably wouldn't recognise a 'gratuitous display of erudition' if even if it stared at me, Larry David-style, until I twigged what it was.

Sadly, I don't really have enough time to spend (waste) time googling every confusing word, phrase* or concept that crops up in some posts, and I must find time to continue to work my way through my book of (London) Times Cryptic Crosswords, which I find considerably less challenging - and then there's the Match Of The Day from Dublin at lunchtime

(* Duck Duck Go It = ? - it's OK, I don't imagine I'll ever encounter it again, let alone use it)

Apparently Roussel is worth investigating - well, at least he didn't write 11 lengthy symphonies!

Simple Question and a simple answer - I would start with 4 (aka “Romantic”) or 7 . Might have said that in an earlier post.

[Richard Barrett]

no version of Holst's The Planets includes Pluto

Or for that matter Eris or Haumea or Makemake or any of the other far-distant little worlds out there... enough for a whole new suite of Dwarf Planets maybe

[Bryn]

Or for that matter Eris or Haumea or Makemake or any of the other far-distant little worlds out there... enough for a whole new suite of Dwarf Planets maybe

Nor, of course, the Earth.

[Richard Barrett]

Nor, of course, the Earth.

Definitely not intended as a footnote to Holst!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEf6oYgAWSE

Back to Bruckner - indeed Heldenleben's "simple" recommendation seems completely reasonable to me. On the other hand, of course it's true that many people have lived happy and fulfilled lives without ever encountering the music of Anton Bruckner, let alone taking it to heart.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

I’d try the first two movements of 8 as a less than 45 min starter.

Wonderful music.

Not disagreeing that it's wonderful music, but I'd recommend 6, as you'll get a whole symphony and only a few minutes longer - and the slow movement contains the nearest thing I can recall in Bruckner to a Mahlerian melody, like the sun breaking through alpine gloom, which turns into a restrained little funeral march for good measure. It's an AB that doesn't outstay its welcome and is relatively approachable.