Bruckner: The Safe Symphony

Anton Bruckner

Symphony No. 2 in c-minor

 

Royal Concertgebow Orchestra Amsterdam

Ricardo Chailly

If we had to nickname Bruckner’s Second Symphony, the way Beethoven’s Sixth got nicknamed “Pastoral” somewhere along the line, I might suggest “Safe,” but that is not as bad as it sounds.  Perhaps Bruckner was looking for more popular and critical acclaim after the relative adventurousness of the First.  The first movement opens in an anthemic, expansive fashion.  Unusually, Bruckner gives short solos to the flute and clarinet as early as 1:45, but by and large there is no adventure here.  The second theme is also very expansive and pastoral (speaking of pastoral things), and also with no tension, except maybe a hint at 3:50.  The movement builds steadily, with nice parts for oboe, bassoon and, once again, flute — clearly one of Bruckner’s favorite instruments.  Horn introduces a new section around 6:00 which starts to develop the opening theme’s material, but again with no unusual harmony or dissonance to speak of.  There is a triumphant climax at 7:40, followed by some nice melodic passages for winds.  A lush melody starting around 12:50 or so foreshadows later movements, and the section at 15:00 has, like bits in the previous symphony, something Russian about it.  The whole movement is very even-keeled, especially in the second half, and, on the whole, dare I say it, a little boring.

The Adagio movement is full of melancholy beauty right off the bat, but we finally get a bit of dissonance at 1:48 in the way the solo violin is set against the strings.  This doesn’t last, however, and the horn theme at 2:50 is the basis for the rest of the movement.  The climax around 5:58 sounds very cinematic to my ear, and would work very well in a film soundtrack.  There is a new major-key theme starting at 12:00, and what little real harmonic tension there is in the movement, it is here.  By the 15:00 mark, we’re back at the opening theme.  Safe though it is, the whole movement is gorgeous.  It may not make you think, but check your pulse if it doesn’t make you feel something.

The Scherzo is energetic and, unlike in the First, the Trio section is obvious — it starts at 3:38.  It is pleasant, if somewhat repetitive, and surprisingly long.  There is a straight restatement of the opening theme at 7:35, but in the closing section Bruckner works in bits of the Trio material in an organic and subtle way.  One of the more pleasant surprises of the whole work.

Like the earlier movements, the Finale is full of lush consonance from the get-go, opening with a triumphant theme that is very Beethovenian in spirit, and a little in content, too.  The second theme is again very pastoral and a dramatic contrast to the opening — clearly a thing with Bruckner.  After the extremely slow section  at 5:10, there is finally some real harmonic tension in the strings starting around 6:25 or so.  The middle section is mostly slow and lush, with attractively prominent wind parts, and there is something about the Bruckner’s orchestral colors here that to my ear looks ahead to Mahler.  Finally, things begin to sound as if Bruckner decided that if the audience has lasted this long, they’ll stay to the end, and starts to experiment with some interesting harmonies at 12:27 and some previously absent chromaticism around 14:00.  The brass chorale at 16:14 if gorgeous and unexpected, and thus very effective.  Brahms would do something similar later.  There is ass-kicking brass in the final recap before the symphony closes with a highly triumphant, unabashedly major-key finale.