Anton Bruckner described his Fourth Symphony as "Romantic," and under this name it soon became his most popular work. Introduced by an idyllic horn call motif, the Fourth Symphony - Bruckner's first in a major key - is characterized by a warm, natural, luminous underpinning. Both the slow movement, with it's funeral march character, and the sometimes frighteningly dark and powerful final movement are in stark contrast to the symphony's initial warmth. As was often the case, Bruckner revised the symphony numerous times in the run-up to it's premiere, which was given by the Vienna Philharmonic in 1881. Fabio Luisi recorded the 1878 version, with the finale from the 1880 version, with the Philharmonia Zürich. This version has long-since established itself as the official concert version of Bruckner's Fourth Symphony.
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Audio Sample: All soundclips are provided by Tidal and are for illustrative purposes only. For some releases, the tracks listed may not accurately represent the tracks on the physical release.
