Date of composition: 1875-1878
Duration: 78 minutes
As a human being, Anton Bruckner was not entirely of this world, a stranger on earth, so to speak. The practicalities of life overwhelmed him, his numerous attempts at marriage all failed. And it was not until he was 60 that his dream of being recognized as a composer came true. He was almost desperate to find a foothold in life. Perhaps this is precisely why he created sounding universes in his symphonies that have no equal in music.
Bruckner wrote his Fifth Symphony when his hopes of a professorship at Vienna University were dashed for the third time. It cannot be ruled out that the impulse to compose the symphony arose from a feeling of humiliation and degradation and that the symphony was intended to prove his ability. This is indicated by the fact that Bruckner called it his “contrapuntal masterpiece”. But the work goes far beyond a demonstration of craftsmanship. On the one hand, it bears many traits typical of Bruckner's symphonic oeuvre: the four movements, the three themes (instead of two as in the classical tradition) in the first and last movements, the chorale-like brass passages - and above all the block-like structure, composed of swelling waves of intensification that break off at their climax and begin again. On the other hand, Bruckner also breaks new ground. The enormous scope of the Fifth is only surpassed in the Eighth Symphony, and nowhere else does Bruckner begin a symphony with a slow introduction. The focus on the finale, the longest and most complex movement of the work, is also unusual. Everything leads up to it. And all four movements are linked much more closely than in earlier symphonies by thematic and motivic connections.
Bruckner began the composition in February 1875, unusually with the slow second movement. He must have already had a plan in mind for the whole work: The following scherzo uses the same accompanying figure, and both movements form an inner, smaller arch, which is vaulted over by a large one consisting of the first and final movements. The finale not only takes up the solemn introduction of the first movement (with the clarinet calling in the octave leap of the main theme like an announcement of things to come), it also echoes themes from all three preceding movements: an ear-catching bow by Bruckner to Ludwig van Beethoven, who used a similar approach in the finale of the Ninth Symphony. This final movement culminates in a double fugue which takes the place of the usual development: a combination of the main theme and a chorale theme introduced at the end of the exposition. In the recapitulation, which takes up the beginning of the movement, the main themes of the first and fourth movements are intertwined before the chorale triumphantly has the last word at the end.
The symphony was largely completed in May 1876, but Bruckner only heard it once in a version for two pianos. He was unable to attend the orchestral premiere on April 9, 1894 (in Graz under the direction of Franz Schalk) due to a serious heart condition. As a result, he was spared the many reorchestrations and deletions deemed necessary by the conductor. It was not until 1935 that the original version was performed for the first time.
As proud as Bruckner was of his compositional ability, he nevertheless emphasized: “Counterpoint is not genius, but only a means to an end”. However, he hardly explained what he wanted to “achieve” with this work. He is said to have called the symphony “Fantastic” - an allusion to the brilliant instrumentalist Hector Berlioz and his Symphonie fantastique? Unlike the latter, Bruckner did not give his Fifth a program. However, there is little doubt that his music touches on something higher that defies description.