Mit Jonathan Nott im Würzburger Dom by Ligeti, Mahler, Fra (2022/2022), Dirigent Jonathan Nott, Würzburg Cathedral, Würzburg, Germany

This concert seeks to arouse curiosity about the »symphony of pauses«, as Bruckner's exciting Second Symphony is often jokily called. He commented in response: »When I have something important to say, I need to catch my breath first.« He completed the symphony at the age of 48, at a time when he was feeling torn: on the one hand, he had achieved fame as an organist, and had been cheered by thousands of people in London shortly before. In Vienna, on the other hand, he was eking out his life as a teacher and an introverted loner, was paid hardly any attention as a composer, and also suffered from the fact that no women showed any interest in him. He was very religious, and thus had already written a fair amount of choral and church music, but he did not dare to tackle the symphonic genre until much later. His self-doubt meant that numerous sketches were relegated to his desk drawers. And then, in 1872, the Vienna Philharmonic refused to give the premiere of the Second Symphony, saying that it was unplayable. A year later, Bruckner conducted it himself at his own expense – and many present were delighted by this »clever stringing together of colourful orchestral images«. However, the criticism of self-appointed »advisors« unsettled Bruckner once again, and he revised the symphony not just once, but twice. It continues to be the least popular of the large canon of his confessional works – but undeservedly so. Epic melodic lines are spun out, broken off suddenly by general rests, and then just as unexpectedly taken up again. Bruckner’s beloved sacred music left its mark on the symphony, which contains quotations from Bruckner's own Mass in F minor. Folk tunes from the composer’s local region are heard, too, which is why the work is occasionally referred to as the »Upper Austrian Symphony«.