The Perplexing Symphony

Taking on a new work by a major composer can be a daunting task even for a seasoned conductor. On September 30th, 1887 conductor Hermann Levi was starting to panic as he faced the debut of Anton Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony. Levi wrote to Bruckner disciple Josef Schalk in desperation:

“I am at a complete loss and I’m appealing to you for advice and help! In short, I am completely flummoxed by Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony and I don’t have the nerve to conduct it.

“No doubt my refusal would meet vociferous opposition among the orchestra and the public. That wouldn’t make any difference to me if I were fascinated by it, as I was by the Seventh, if I could say to the orchestra, as I did then, ‘By the fifth rehearsal you’ll come to like it.’ But I’m awfully disappointed! I’ve studied the work for days on end and I just don’t get it. Maybe I’m too dense or too old but I find the instrumentation impossible, and what really shocks me is its resemblance to the Seventh Symphony—practically to the point of mechanical copying. The opening passage of the first movement is splendid but the development leaves me cold.

“As for the last movement—it’s Greek to me.

“What to do? I tremble at the thought of what this news will do to our friend! I can’t write to him. Should I suggest that he come here to listen to a rehearsal? In my despair I showed the score to a musical friend of mine and he agreed that it’s impossible to perform. So please write back to me at once and tell me how to approach Bruckner. If it were only a matter of him thinking I’m an idiot or a traitor, I’d make the best of it. But I’m afraid of something worse. I’m afraid the disappointment may wreck his courage.

“By any chance do you know the symphony well? Can you make head or tail of it? I really don’t know what to do!”

Conductor Hermann Levi sweating out the premiere of Anton Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony in a letter to Josef Schalk on September 30th, 1887. Bruckner revised the symphony, which remained unperformed for another five years.