AGAINST BRUCKNER

posted by James Reel

Finally, somebody expresses an opinion I have long kept to myself: "Let's be clear: Bruckner is not the next Mahler. He enjoys some popularity among contemporary conductors because he's a heavyweight romantic tonal composer whose music can, from a certain angle, be viewed as a sort of forerunner of the non-sonata, "rotating chunk" modern school of musical form. He's an easy read for conductors with basic time-beating skills and a good brass section. In music, a cold and lazy lack of expressiveness can pass itself off as "spirituality". Hence the current Bruckner glut." That's David Hurwitz, who actually likes Bruckner, in a review of the latest poorly conceived Bruckner CD.