Visual and Performing Arts

Defining the “Problem”: The Development of Postwar Attitudes toward Bruckner Versions

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Concern with the "Bruckner problem" was one of the most important elements in the scholarly and popular reception of Bruckner's symphonies in the second half of the twentieth century. The conventional position was to accept only the "original versions" as published by modern editors, while dismissing as corrupt the versions published during the composer's lifetime. This view of the Bruckner versions was forged by German-speaking scholars in the 1930s, and cultivated by English-speaking scholars and critics in the postwar era. Until now, the pivotal process by which this view came to be embraced has been largely overlooked, but is worthy of examination to show how it has shaped the appreciation of Bruckner's symphonies in the English-speaking world. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Publication Title

Journal of Musicological Research

Publication Date

2013

Volume

32

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

27

ISSN

0141-1896

DOI

10.1080/01411896.2013.752193

Keywords

Anton Bruckner, composers

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