David Dalle
Thursday May 10th, 2018 with David Dalle
The Earth Moves: mountains rise and mountains fall as Titanic forces strive for infinity in Bruckner's 8th symphony.

Something which strikes me so forcefully when immersing myself in Bruckner's symphonies is the incredible latent energy found in his music. Often the music is slow or moderate tempo, often fairly quiet, but with unbelievable power and tension just below the surface, always threatening to explode, and which always inevitably does. I am reminded of the tectonic motion of the Earth itself, which moves impercetibly yet contain tremendous tension, creating and destroying mountains and oceans, and sometimes the tension is released in cataclysmic events. Listening to his symphonies, and particularly his greatest--his Everest--his 8th symphony, is to be completely overwhelmed, swept away, torn and flung like pebbles in a massive earthquake. It is also to be enraptured by the glorious adagio, an endless expanse of impossible beauty. Can anything be greater than that? The crucial coda of the finale, the crux of the entire 80 minute saga, with slow menacing strings rising in c minor with a mournful lament intoning on the brass, the work seemingly destined for tragedy, swiftly shifting through distant keys, until the most transcendent C major bursts through. Now a work starting in c minor and ending in c major was already incredibly routine two centuries before Bruckner. But never done like this, never quite like this. Never after this much struggle and Herculean effort. *This* is what I seek most in music! The Toronto Symphony Orchestra were in town this past Monday performing this work. I had wanted to program it beforehand, but had not found the 80 minutes to do so. I regret it now, because experiencing it live is what life is for! Sadly we rarely get the opportunity to in Ottawa. I hope some of you did catch the performance. And if not, turn up the radio and allow yourself to be carried away...