Bruckner Symphony n°9 - Finale - Completion of Sébastien Letocart

[@ntesdorf]

Thank you, Sébastien Letocart for a masterful completion of the Finale and Coda. It is as if Bruckner himself rose from his grave to complete this mighty work.

[@JoelLeBras]

Bruckner can't rise from his grave because the grave is under the very very heavy St FLorian's organ...

[@conw_y]

I've been listening to this Finale for at least a year now. It is the most striking one I've encountered. I absolutely LOVE the idea of taking that mysterious, unresolved theme of the 2nd movement, and using it as the seed from which will bloom the coda and resolution of the whole symphony. The result you have achieved here is phenomenal, metaphysical, mysterious, apocalyptic and GLORIOUS! Which I'm sure is the kind of mood Bruckner himself would have been aiming for. THANK YOU for completing this extraordinary symphony. I hope you're aware that you have made a valuable contribution that is deeply felt and appreciated by many of us fans of this great symphony.

[@Boltogenta]

Jonathan C, that theme of the second movement is the «mirror» of the one which ends the first movement of the symphony, in the coda. It's certainly very imaginative.

[@Tracotel]

Bruckner's 9th symphony, like Mahler's 9th, is a "face to face" with death. I have always imagined that the Coda of this unfinished Finale ought to be highly impressive, full of extreme transcendant aspirations.

[@Theonainlo]

Maestro Letocart, I'd like to say, I am absolutely delighted of your completion. It seems to be more Brucknerian than any of completions I have ever heard. I am also very grateful for your thesis which gives elaborated insight into your work.

[@benjamingirard3900]

Monsieur Letocart, votre complétion est formidable ; Votre travail est le plus "incarné" dans l'esprit et la matière brucknérienne (si l'on peut dire), et ce parmi toutes les complétions que l'on a pu entendre de ce 4e mvmt. Vous avez, il me semble, fait ce choix essentiel : créer en poète, créer en vous détachant de la seule spéculation technique ou historique, créer avec inspiration. Votre travail est comme un rêve éveillé, un rêve fantastique et irrationnel ; mais vous l'avez fait et vous nous le transmettez. Merci.

[@Bekothegreat]

I have no idea how much of this is from Bruckner' scores and how much is pure speculation, but Mr. Letocart, I congratulate you for this intriguing, mysterious, disturbing, epic, Brucknerian finale.

[@johnpcomposer]

And yet it is the best of the many version of this finale that I have listened to and I've listened to almost all of them. The thing is, from the tempi and the way it unfolds, to the coda (especially the coda) it is the most Brucknerian and convincing. If I didn't know better but knew Bruckner I would say this was composed by him. The great dissonant "vision of death" chord before the coda is astonishing and Harnoncourt refers to the moment, but it's lacking in Rattle's recording. Man, Bruckner knew this was it, he's going out with a coda like that one! No way. The Letocart coda coming in three waves of climax feels like Bruckner (think of the 5th!) It is the only version that really thrills me, and which seems to justify and satisfy such a mighty work and all that has gone before. The recording quality is poor. I would love to hear this version done on a quality Hyperion recording.

[@dmsnch]

The more I listen to this, the more convinced I am by it. I think I like your coda more than other versions. Thank you for giving us this.

[@abbethoven6076]

Très belle coda. Merci pour ce bel hommage à Bruckner.

[@abbethoven6076]

Avec votre version, on a un tant soit peu l'impression que la boucle est enfin bouclée à l'issue de ces quatre mouvements (surtout en reprenant cette inoubliable fin de premier mouvement, vraiment une excellente idée). On sent réellement que vous êtes un inconditionnel de Bruckner et que vous avez tâché d'écrire la coda que vous rêviez d'entendre. Encore une fois, un très bel hommage à Bruckner. Bravo !

[@didierdamas]

Gigantesque prouesse, travail, talent, !!! Completion magistrale... Bravos !!!

[@warrenmalach5528]

I am a 63-year-old lifelong fan of Bruckner's music (since I was in high school) who is also proud to share his birthday of September 4th (the traditional date for the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD!) Having enjoyed the completions/realizations of Schubert's "Unfinished" and Mahler's 10th and Tchaikovsky's 7th and Elgar's 3rd Symphonies, I dreamed for years of being able to listen to a completion of Bruckner's 9th, and collected the recordings of all of the different versions as they have come out. Sadly, I remain unconvinced by the Finale of the 9th. Perhaps I am expecting something more like the glorious Finale to the 8th Symphony. There is no question in my mind that Bruckner was "going beyond" where he had previously been, as with Beethoven's final String Quartets. I find the bulk of the movement simply not preparing the listener for a final "triumph," such as a return to the first theme of the symphony in a major key, as with the end of the 3rd Symphony. However, I do appreciate all the efforts which have gone into the various Finale versions, including that of Maestro Letocart.

[@jdiwkall]

There is a Tchaikovsky 7!?

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

Technically the Pathetique is the Tchaikovsky 7. What is being called the 7th now is his 6th attempt at a symphony (built out of the drafts for his 3rd Piano Concerto) which he discarded. So it is not some work that he didn't finish because he died. He didn't finish it because he was not satisfied with it. So it's more akin to Bruckner's 0 Symphony which is his 3rd attempt at a Symphony.

[@jdiwkall]

I seem to enjoy Bruckner's symphonies more than the symphonies of any other composer. Bruckner makes everyone else sound juvenile, to me at least.

[@bathtubbarracuda2581]

Don't forget the Manfred. Would that count as an 8?

[@PikeTJ]

Honestly, I've listened to the Coda about 20 times by now. It is fantastic. It sounds like it is repeating the Coda from the first movement, but then continues on into a tone world not yet explored!

[@Tracotel]

JimTLonW6 wrote: "Seriously, these completions give us some idea of what was intended but the coda must forever remain speculative." I wrote and said exactly the same since many years... The most important is to realize a consistent piece of music out of Bruckner's sketches. Note that a completion of the Finale without coda would not be a completion, and certainly a musical nonsense.

[@basspoem]

To complete is to recreate, to realise in your own inner language, from your own music, what the composer stuttered to say, then stopped. I am so grateful to Letocart and others who've worked on this shattered Finale so that it can speak; especially so for that glorious chorale, which otherwise would have remained silent. Thank you tracotel!

[@Tracotel]

The passage at 21:59 to 22:19 is a reminiscence of the climax of the adagio, based on a sketch of Bruckner (only chords).

[@bruckner4444]

Sublime! The Coda comes from Paradise...

[@청음E]

I love Letocart version. Because it's Brucknerian orchestration and Brucknerian coda!

[@청음E]

사실 하고싶은 말이 굉장히 많지만, 한국사람이고 영어를 잘 못해 한국어로라도 적어봅니다. 저는 이 판본이 다른 판본들보다 훨씬 브루크너답다고 생각합니다. 코다 시작 전 3악장에 나온 불협화음을 한번 더 삽입한 건 정말 탁월한 선택이었다고 봅니다. 또한, 코다는 정말 브루크너답게 쓰신 것 같습니다. D minor로 시작해서 D major로 끝나는 전형적인 브루크너식 코다, 거기에 현악의 트레몰로로 상승되는 분위기에 3음이 생략된 마지막음까지. 코다가 D minor로 시작하고, D/E♭ major 가 연결되는데, 이는 1악장 코다와도 일맥상통합니다. 박수가 안나올 수 없습니다. 수고하셨습니다!

[@AdrianGagiu-composer]

I've listened to Sir Simon's interview. He says the opposite of what you have understood, and exactly what I just replied to you: that most of the Finale is by Bruckner, that there is more authentic material than in Mozart's Requiem, and that the SPCM team had to really compose only about 28 bars.

[@francoismagne5863]

I've listened to every completion attempt of this finale, and this is the most Brucknerian in spirit. I especially enjoined the coda, which doesn't sound bombastic but slowly rises from gloom to fulfilment, combined (as I hear it) with a surprising but convincing touch of nostalgia (I'm refering to the brass playing at 24:06 and onwards. I wish I could express this in technical terms). And now, Mr Letocart, you need to bribe a world-class orchestra to record this. If you'd consider crowdfunding, I'd gladly donate.

[@raphaelfournier8273]

Ceci n'est pas l'avis d'un musicologue mais d'un amateur passionné de Bruckner. Je dois dire que c'est la réalisation la plus concaincante du finale que j'ai entendue. Relègue loin derrière elle celle de SPCM et les autres. Bravo, maestro !

[@LorenzKerscher]

Thanks for finalizing the musical material of the unaccomplished finale so impressively!

[@syndicatephilharmonic9205]

My god, this is undoubtedly the greatest reconstitution of the finale I have ever heard. I, too, found Rattle's version heavily flawed and anti-Brucknerian. I don't know how to thank and applaud you.

[@ThreadBomb]

Rattle's performance was indeed very bad. That's a separate issue from the quality of the finale completion he used. Wildner was much more successful with an earlier (arguably better) version of the same completion.

[@DeliciousManager]

@@ThreadBomb Johannes Wildner is a seriously underrated conductor.

[@klscomus]

I don't remember if I posted a comment here or not, but once again I gave your edition a listen and I am convinced once and for all that this is the finest completion of all and deserves a major performance and recording. It is totally organic from beginning to end, and whatever is missing is rectified by your honest conviction and thorough research in making the finale a reality. The coda is also rock-solid and convincing and builds to a tremendous and powerful affirmation of faith. We'll never know what was in Bruckner's mind when he died, but if anyone comes close to how he would have ended this symphony, this is it. Thank you, Sebastien.

[@Tracotel]

Thanks for your warm comment.

[@Tracotel]

Thanks about your comment on my completion. I do not agree, I find all the themes of the Finale absolutely great. The central fugue and then the long crescendo is a unique intense and ascending moment.

[@bruckner4444]

The coda, and specially the start of the coda, is sublime... Fantastic!

[@JoelLeBras]

I began my Bruckner-journey with a live performance of the 5th by Von Matacic in the late 70's. Then I read Langevin's book : this french author preconised to conclude the finale with such a grandiose combination of 4 themes. Langevin died too soon but his hope is now accomplished.

[@PhilippeHemsen]

Quel finale grandiose, digne d'Anton Bruckner !

[@Tracotel]

@petrof4056 I do not agree when you write there is a lack of "craziness" in the Finale. I feel this music as particularly violent and dissonant, disturbing, mysterious and extremely intense. When I listen to a 3 movements interpretation of this symphony, I feel frustrated because the crowning of the work is missing. I prefer the compromise of a serious completion or the "documentation of the fragments" to a 9th symphony in 3 movements...

[@Sherkel]

I just ordered the recording. This is an astounding achievement. As others have said, it sounds far more Brucknerian and satisfying overall than the SPCM attempt.

[@NARCISALISPAHIC]

Amazing job man...Still listening this from the summer!

[@Tracotel]

I still hope for a "live" performance of 'my' Finale to Bruckner's ninth symphony...

[@tonythetrulypuffy2258]

Much more appropriate than any other versions I've listened. ^o^

[@ntesdorf]

I think that Bruckner himself would have liked this realisation of his sketches for the finale much more than some of the 'versions' of his earlier symphonies that were made in his own time. Although very good,, I think that the Coda could still benefit from some more contemplation and attention, as it is the great difficulty to be solved. Excellent Work!

[@cristianfabian4893]

Me ha encantado esta versión de la reconstrucción del Finale, en especial la coda, es mucho más "Bruckneriana" que las demás reconstrucciones. Mil gracias por subirla! Saludos desde Argentina!

[@Tracotel]

Gracias. Saludos desde Belgica.

[@albertferrerflamarich]

@@Tracotel Efectivamente. Su versión junto a la de Peter Jan Marthé, muy diferentes entre sí, me parecen de lo más recomendable. Deberían tocar la Novena con esta reconstrucción este año 2024.

[@JimTLonW6]

I think what's needed is a 'compose your own Bruckner 9 finale' app! Then everyone could have a go; there could even be an annual competition! Seriously, these completions give us some idea of what was intended but the coda must forever remain speculative.

[@JohanHerrenberg]

I have never been convinced by any 'completion' of Bruckner's Ninth. They left me cold and dissatisfied, and so I avoided listening to them these past few years. This morning, however,I stumbled upon your attempt. And I must say - this version gave me that difficult to describe Bruckner feeling. It's as if you're cast into the fiery furnace of Bruckner's own creative imagination. Things are extreme, jagged, grand, apocalytic. The energy is tremendous. The Coda won me over, too. So, all in all, my belated congratulations on an impossible job well done! This is the version I'll be returning to. It's very exciting!

[@Tracotel]

Thanks for your comment. Nobody will never be abble to "complete" Bruckner's ultimate Finale in a 100% satisfying way, and I do not particularly like the word completion. I tried to be as respectful as possible to the original source and to make a performable work out the material at disposal. There is not pretention here about a "scientific reconstruction", only a question of intimacy with Bruckner's style and deep love for him and his music.

[@JohanHerrenberg]

@@Tracotel Yes, you clearly know his style on a visceral level, but also - the spirit that guides it. Which is something you cannot want to have. You either have it, or you don't. Having listened to Bruckner for almost fifty years now, I recognize that spirit when I hear it. I heard it.

[@leestamm3187]

@@Tracotel I agree that unfinished works can never be "completed," but only imagined in a way that pays proper homage to the composer, working with whatever they left behind. In constructing a performable piece from such fragments, I think you achieved what you set out to do. The style and orchestration is very much in the manner of Bruckner, for whom you obviously have profound respect and insight. To judge from what I hear in your efforts, I tend to think that he would have approved.

[@Tracotel]

My realization is not to be considered as an exercise of “free composition” or something "fanciful". What we have inherited from Bruckner is a “work in progress”, unfortunately interrupted by his death… As long as we will not have found the missing manuscripts, we will never really know which solution the composer would have most probably finally chosen. We are facing up to an unavoidable arbitrary problem and so we have to speculate…

[@emotions4you]

Thanks for your efforts to bring something to live which was just in the mind of Anton Bruckner. I am a glowing fan of him and I travel each year to St. Florian and visit his Sarkophag and I listen to one of his symphonies there. My reference conductor is Celibidache and I was always dreaming of once hearing the final of the 9th symphony. And two years ago my dream was fulfilled by listening to the spmc version. I know Bruckner would have revised it,but this is a real Bruckner, no doubt for me. When listening to your version, I am very sorry, but there I do not have this feeling and I share the thoughts someone else had before in a comment :there is something missing, I do not feel Bruckner here, this movement is somewhat distracted /separated from the others. It sounds for me like an own composition, like yours and not like a real Bruckner. Again sorry for that,you really tried your best,just for me I cannot feel the spirit of Bruckner here.

[@Boltogenta]

Tracotel, I have no words to thank you. You've mixed all themes in te code, which is structurally analogous with the one in the fourth movement of the 8th Symphony. It also's got a beethovenian feeling in certain armonies. Thank you for marking subtly the structure of the music with the images, it's helped me so much in the audition.

[@PikeTJ]

Brilliant my friend. First listen in a long time.. the end. Oh the end.

[@davidmayhew4818]

This is very impressive and quite a surprise to me. But I have always liked the adagio as the ending. Love the lucid performance by Walter.

[@abbethoven6076]

Bruckner est mon compositeur préféré, et cette symphonie est probablement celle qui me fascine le plus, son caractère inachevé aidant naturellement au côté énigmatique de ce chant du cygne. Plus le temps passe, et plus j'apprécie votre complétion, surtout la coda. J'aime bien aussi la complétion CSPM des années 90 (celle enregistrée par Johannes Wildner), à part la fugue (assez décevante) et quelques autres détails. Dans la version CSPM de 2012, j'avoue ne pas comprendre certaines modifications... . J'espère qu'un jour votre complétion aura droit à un enregistrement digne de ce nom. Cela arrivera forcément, ce n'est pas possible autrement. Merci beaucoup, et bonne continuation à vous.

[@RihardsBuks]

Thank you! I found this greatly made and will definitely include in my 'must perform' diary! Very well done! Regards, Rihards buks

[@JyotiB70045]

Just incredible, thanks a lot.

[@Tracotel]

@petrof4056 I suggested to listen to Harnoncourt's recording of the Finale because he decided to perform the "documentation of the fragments" which correspond to 90% of Bruckner's original music. The begin of the Finale is the same harmonic descent as the bars 225-226 in the preceding adagio. The choral theme of the Finale is the same as the "Abschied vom Leben" in the adagio. So, there are clearly links between movements III and IV.

[@mfaleclerc]

Moi aussi, Monsieur Letocart, je suis profondément ému par la remarquable solution, épinglée à juste titre par mon co-admirateur coréen ci-dessous, que vous avez trouvée pour l'écho des cieux fait au décacorde dissonant à partir de 22:20 plus ou moins - plus qu'une solution, en fait une inspiration de rêve orchestrée si finement comme par le Bruckner proto-impressionniste, "turnérien"... Je voudrais aussi dire mon admiration pour la manière transparente et mystérieuse à la fois de votre orchestration, que je devine par quelques ajouts de touches, de la fugue "de tous les combats dans l'au-delà" - où je trouve, étonnamment, les "imperfections" de l'orchestre bénéfiques parce que révélatrices de la structure, du squelette : depuis que les fugues du dernier Beethoven nous ébranlent par l'audace de leurs contrepoints "anti-tonaux", c'est ce côté "déchirant" des fulgurations en demi-croches partant dans tous les sens de la Fugue de Bruckner, qui nous fait sursauter, comme si nous étions témoins des champs de morts ressuscités vus par Ézéchiel... Votre sens, profond, du drame profond de cette musique (le motif de la croix à la fois, par sa descente aux enfers, prenant feu en enfer même, et triomphant, par les échelles montantes de plateau en plateau) est tellement juste dans sa compréhension du jeu de l'immanence et de la transcendance, et subtil dans sa réalisation - vous m'apprenez tant de choses !

[@AdrianGagiu-composer]

The proportion of authentic Bruckner here is possibly larger than the proportion of authentic Mozart in the Requiem. There is no authentic complete score for the Requiem except the Introit & Kyrie. The Sequenz and Offertorium are only in vocal score (the Amen fugue is not realized by Süssmayer), and the last movements are not at all in Mozart's writing (although apparently based on his sketches).

[@dhackj]

Now this begins to make sense. Other versions fall into a D major blaze without a sense of struggle. Here perhaps, Letocart has thought about how the coda of No. 8 might be a key to the final architecture; that in the coda the searching goes on until the last grinding wrench to the home key. I also think the conductor and orchestra understand this; far more famous performances of the finale (with different versions admittedly) don't seem to make sense. We will never hear Bruckner's version but I am thrilled by this attempt!

[@robcat2075]

I enjoyed that very much. It's not the Bruckner Finale to end all Bruckner Finales that I dream of but none of the others are either. :D

[@Tracotel]

I do not need to be upset. I just frankly answered. If you remarks are irrelevant or wrong, I respond. The proportions of my coda are well balanced. I used the same plagal cadenza as the one of the first movement, amplified of course because this end requires more tension to prepare the "last jump": the combination of the four main themes of the symphony (coagmentatio) which is not "too long" but exactely designed as the coagmentatio of the Eigth symphony.

[@tohuwabohu7933]

Variations sur un thème de Bruckner ... ça ne m’étonnerait pas si cette issue de la coda était révisée un jour, comme Bruckner lui-même révisa. Maître Letocart, à quand votre 0ième symphonie? Cependant, j’attends avec impatience un nouvel enregistrement hifi digne de cette composition d’une coda hors de ce monde, car je ne peux pas arrêter d’écouter ce mystère glorieux imaginé à la place du Maestro. Tous mes remerciements.

[@Tracotel]

We'll never know Bruckner's intentions, this is what I wrote when my recording was edited in 2008 and what is precisely written on my website or in my thesis (in french) whose english translation will be soon available on abruckner-dot-com. It is wrong to say or repeat the untruths asserted by Simon Rattle: there is not so much material of Bruckner, less material than for Mozart's Requiem. But for sure, Rattle never opened the facsimile...

[@stephanedumont2803]

La coda de cette version du finale reste inégalée, d'une inspiration exceptionnelle qui la rend bien supérieure à toutes les autres versions.

[@rayviada5862]

The Tannhauser and Siegfried flourishes in this Finale - Bruckner is, after all, a disciple of Wagner, albeit a truly Catholic and Christian one, not a neo-Platonist like Wagner and His Singular Grail Light pouring from the Chalice into the All - this little tiles in this Finale connect me to what is Brucknerian in the piece. I love the way he more than any composer gathers the Osiris of the Grail Light.

[@TheAngmarArchives]

Dear Mr Letocart, I find your completion over and above the others, the most 'true' version and I congratulate you for it. I would like to ask, has there been or is there a possibility of a new recording of this version of the Finale? I can only dream of what the Berlin Philharmoniker would have created, were they to use this version - and particularly the 'sudden death' and coda - instead of the SPCM. I think you have captured what was described by Harnoncourt better than anybody else...

[@Tracotel]

Thanks for your comment. The orchestration of my completion has been improved since this first performance, but unfortunately there is no opportunity for a new recording or even a live performance... Especially since Rattle established the SPCM as being "the completion" of Bruckner's Ninth Symphony, although this realization is stylistically awkward on many aspects.

[@TheAngmarArchives]

@@Tracotel This is very unfortunate...hopefully, something happens in the future...but even if not, having this recording is a significant achievement. If it took 115 years to have the Finale played by a famous conductor and orchestra (Rattle/Berlin), there is nothing to say that in years to come your version will not be adopted by others. I have to say, I saw Rattle with the Berlin Phil last year in London play this live as part of his farewell tour and the live performance was different from the recording - for the better. Furthermore, I really enjoy the first 3/4 of the SPCM version and forgive me for my ignorance but it feels not dissimilar to your completion - it is only before the 'sudden death' moment (I do apologize, I have no higher musical education or ability to read notation) and the coda that I feel you have achieved something that feels much more true and deserving to be the end of the End...if I could dream for a moment, I wonder what sublime magic would Celibidache/Muncher Philharmoniker have achieved conducting your version. Anyway, my sincere thanks and congratulations for your work Maestro!

[@Tracotel]

@@TheAngmarArchives Obviously, the conclusion is the most different part in every realization of this Finale, but there are also very significant differences between mine and SPCM's at the beginning, or more evidently at the end of the exposition and first part of the development [6:57]. The reconstructed gap in the central fugue is also completely different [11:07]. Moreover, the climax at the end of the development, in my completion, uses all the forces available in the orchestra [12:53] when the SPCM incomprehensibly weakens and shrinks the orchestration...?

[@TheAngmarArchives]

@@Tracotel My apologies - I must confess, I was focused last night on the conclusion of all versions (around the middle of the third group)...I completely agree on the climax at the of end the development you mention above, it is incomprehensibly shrunk in the SPCM version. I will listen again to the first part of the development and the reconstructed gap once I have a chance to sit down properly. Thank you!

[@edwardprice1056]

I've been familiar with the samale/mazzuca completion since the 80s, but it never really grabbed me. Simon Rattle's recent overhaul of it is a little better, but it still doesn't strike me as 'authentic'. Yours, this, is the first completion I've heard which really does get the spirit of the 9th's earlier movements into the finale. Well done. I really like the use of the trio theme, which I've always felt was significant, to make the coda. This then matches the awesome, spine tingling, dark coda of the first movement (and you've clinched the point even further, by using the final discord from that coda to approach the final major chord at the end also). This really does feel like it belongs. On the downside I think you could have included the combination of all four themes as samale/mazzuca/rattle do, but that's a minor point. I really do feel the goosebumps with your coda, again, well done.

[@Tracotel]

The four main themes are combined at the very end, exactely the same way as for the 8th symphony.

[@Boltogenta]

It is difficult to distinguish, but I can notice the Adagio in the trombones (D, B, A, F#), I think, and the Scherzo in the 5th grade (again, violins and woodwinds).

[@Tracotel]

No mahlerian quotation, this is the theme of the adagio. Horns 3-4 and tenor tubens are playing: a - b (ninth interval) - a - d

[@anbruck1]

Cher Sébastien, comme je vous l'ai fait savoir lorsque j'avais acquis le CD, je vous confirme que c'est une belle reconstitution du Finale. En particulier, j'apprécie votre Coda, qui correspond bien aux intentions de Bruckner, malheureusement prématurément décédé.

[@fotisskountzouris4346]

EXCELLENT version!!!! Congratulations!!!!!!! :D :D :D

[@vaughanosgan8766]

Of all the versions available I like this best..........

[@Tracotel]

Dear Rihards, thanks for your messages - the private one deserves actually a substantial answer :-) I am still expecting a "live" performance of my completion... Best regards.

[@Tracotel]

I was not satisfied at all about all different realizations of musicologists (Carragan, Samale-Cohrs etc., Josephson...). I wanted especially a more ambitous and impressive coda to crown the symphony. Ever since I have heard completions of the Finale, I have felt that the coda ought to be bolder than what a deterministic approach allows to draw from the existing music, while the greatest consideration must be given to keep the composition style consistent and the results plausible.

[@Tracotel]

Concerning the "final chords", you are not very specific? What place exactely of the coda are you talking about? I have to say that what I called "the coda of the coda" (D minor pedal at the end) corresponds precisely to the harmonies of the end of the first movement... Even the plagal cadenza before the coagmentatio in D major (where the four themes of the symphony are combined) is the same as in the first movement. All details are available in my thesis, see my google website.

[@JT29501]

How I wish every time I listen to the ninth, or go to see it performed, that this version was the 'standard' version instead of the boring, awkward and uninspired 'composition by committee' of the SPCM version.. the greatness of this is proof that when a work is being completed in such a way that requires new, speculative music instead of just orchestration/realisation, you MUST get a composer who can feel artistic inspiration and not a musicologist. It actually really disappoints me that top conductors like Rattle are fine with the other version, when ones like this exist. Surely if they heard this it would convert them on the spot! Out of interest, what do you think of the other completions, especially the codas? Are there others you like? For me yours is the best, I love the quotes from previous Brucknetr symphonies and the combination of the themes os very satisfying.

[@Tracotel]

Thanks. Do not hesitate to look at other Bruckner's symphonies available on my KZbin channel.

[@Tracotel]

Do not be sorry, you are absolutely correct: this unfinished Finale requires +/- 40% of speculation.

[@oncleblaire]

Merci du fond du cœur, Monsieur Letocart ! Quel plus bel hommage pouvait-on rendre à notre vénéré Bruckner que de proposer de "finir" ainsi ce pour quoi il a tant lutté en vain ses jours derniers ? Est-il prévu un concert ou un enregistrement en bonnes conditions de ce merveilleux travail dans les années à venir ?

[@Tracotel]

Malheureusement, ni concert, ni enregistrement, faute de personnes intéressées...

[@grangetowncardiff6935]

Oh my god! If there is one I want to be there with Anton. Take my hand and show me. Wonderful!

[@pierrebonnechere7032]

Honourable try! It is important to realize that much of the last movement is preserved and fully orchestrated by Bruckner himself (for ex. here until 8:45: see the detail on the website of the maesro). Harnoncourt (2007) played with the Vienna Philharmony everything that exists, without adding a single note. For the purest, Harnoncourt's version is astounding, because it shows how much Bruckner did not lost his powers because of illness (a kind of credo which persists despite the evidence of the archive, as is the assertion that he did not wrote any note of the finale...). The competed version here provides a very interesting "filling up" with great crafmanship. An "avant-goût" of a lost work.

[@Tracotel]

+Pierre Bonnechere Thanks for your comment. The fragments as presented in the "Documentation of the Fragments" do not correspond to what Bruckner left unfinished. Important orchestral elements of the Samale-Phillips-Cohrs-Mazzuca realization of 1992 are used to make the sketches more "presentable" as they really are. So, the "Documentation of the Fragments" is already and partly a completed work.

[@Tracotel]

The main argument of Harnoncourt is that Süssmayr was not abble to compose any part of the Requiem because these so called "completed parts" are by far even better than all music ever composed by Süssmayr.

[@PikeTJ]

Is that a hint of the coda from the Finale of Mahler 8 at 24:07 and 24:15 with the horns on B?

[@OsGamersdoBrasil]

How can I get the score?

[@Tracotel]

Send me an email at [e-mail]

[@donglendenning8311]

Fabulous but please call it “Farewell Anton Bruckner.” His authentic 3 movement 9th Symphony as it stands is his perfect, personal farewell to this life as it fades so beautifully and serenely away into heavenly bliss.

[@Tracotel]

"His authentic 3 movement 9th Symphony as it stands is his perfect," The existing parts of the Finale are also *authentic*, and the project of Bruckner had always been a four movements symphony, not three.

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

I think the decision whether the SPCM performance version or this is better is the same question when it comes to whether the Cooke or Mazetti version of the Mahler 10 are better. To me this here sounds a little overdone, whereas the SPCM sounds too austere.

[@AdrianGagiu-composer]

You should write and publish a study to discuss the SPCM version, which seems to get some 'approval' being played by the Berlin Phil. We need Bruckner's Ninth in 4 movements and as close to his intentions as possible!

[@Tracotel]

@iduefoscari W What group are you talking about? SPCM?

[@AdrianGagiu-composer]

Your Coda is extraordinary, incomparably more moving than in the SMPC version (which I find rather dry, btw). But the quality of the Finale themes, except the chorale, doesn't match those from the other 3 movements, as is often the case with Bruckner. And his finales are always difficult to realize even for himself because he starts his symphonies at such high a level, that anything destined to end them would need to be superhuman.

[@Tracotel]

Thanks for your comment, basspoem. I hope I will have the opportunity to make a new and better recording of my improved completion...

[@EmmanuelSikora]

I am deeply moved by your completion of this monumental work! I captures the very spirit of Bruckner - I think he would have certainly ended his piece with a major-key "transfiguration" of the end of the first movement. He does much the same thing in his eighth symphony: darkness to light. What is the name of the orchestra? Again, congrats.

[@Tracotel]

sites.google.com/site/letocartsebastien/Home-english/bruckner-9th-symphony-completion-of-the-finale

[@Tracotel]

The MAV Symphony Orchestra Budapest mavzenekar.hu/?lang=en&id

[@EmmanuelSikora]

@@Tracotel Thank you for sharing the link. I am excited to dig deeper into your passion for this symphony.

[@Tracotel]

I just changed some details of the orchestration to improve the balance. You will find some of my own works on my KZbin channel. Do not hesitate to subscribe.

[@mr-wx3lv]

The recording seems to suffer from rather sloppy playing at times.. but it's an interesting realisation. Motifs from previous symphonies can be heard.

[@Tracotel]

Bruckner's sketches and bifolios, the will of Bruckner until the last day of his life to complete the Finale are not a fiction. Just listen to the recording of Nikolaus Harnoncourt and his "workshop"...

[@iduefoscari]

Tracotel-I know you are your own composer,but how I would of liked for you to have joined the group,because your final coda is very worthy. I do believe that Bruckner would have used elements of the coda of the first movement in D Major. as you have done.The first movement is the finest in all the symphonic repertory and with your use of the trio section of the scherzo , you have indeed produced a very plausible ending. However with the group involved it might of been more Brucknerian.

[@sergeip2002]

plz give me links to other 3 parts

[@flamingxombie]

I'd love to see the SF symphony orchestra play this! Esa Peka Salonen/MTT I hope you find Monsieur Letocart's completion.

[@Tracotel]

Esa Peka Salonen is not interrested...

[@Tracotel]

@ Thomas Pike Thanks for your sensitive and beautiful comment about my completion! I am happy you enjoy it so much. I hope it will be possible to make a new recording of it with the (little) modifications I made, or maybe to create it in a live concert...

[@iduefoscari]

Maestro Letocart- I have heard your ending now several times and there are many aspects of it which are very very good. Maybe right at the end we are in the realms of a Hollywood Blockbuster, and I have no problems with this in say the Sixth symphony ,Bruckner's most original before the 9th and from which so much film score music originates. Its just your final chords that don't seem to be right, but your concept is better that the "Group". If only the five of you could work together.

[@Tracotel]

The authentic proportion, the main structure of Bruckner, certainly (except the coda about we have only 52 bars of thin sketches), but the content of many pages is poor or sometimes only corresponds to empty numbered bars + the missing bifolios (gaps in the score). As you write, we have more music of Mozart than we have of Bruckner...

[@philrosset]

Géant, mystique, inspiré et inspirant ! J’aimerais en savoir plus ! Pensez-vous que l’on puisse faire ce travail sur la 8e de Sibelius par exemple ? Merci

[@Tracotel]

Concernant la 8ème symphonie de Sibelius, c'est clairement impossible puisque rien n'existe et il semblerait que le projet ait été abandonné par le compositeur alors que Bruckner a travaillé au Finale de sa 9ème symphonie jusqu'au dernier jour de sa vie.

[@philrosset]

@@Tracotel oui certes mais il y a des fragments (très très courts) présentés comme étant des bribes de cette fameuse 8e. Mais restons sur Bruckner. A quand une performance de votre version avec Berlin, les Wiener ou le RCO ?

[@Tracotel]

@@philrosset C'est malheureusement une question à laquelle il est impossible de répondre...

[@AdrianGagiu-composer]

I didn't say there wasn't enough authentic material, on the contrary. I said the Finale was too advanced and crying for a completion, but as a few passages are missing, they need some speculative (more or less!) solutions. I know most of the music is by Bruckner.

[@danieleleoneleone9434]

Geni musicali infinitamente grandi

[@pasolinipersempre7044]

Votre travail sur ce Finale épineux a déjà le mérite d'exister... J'ai cru, à l'abord de la coda, que vous alliez reprendre à votre compte, en l'amplifiant, la sublime marche harmonique esquissée dans la coda du Ier mouvement. Il faudrait que vous puissiez diffuser un enregistrement réalisé avec un orchestre à la hauteur de la tâche, parce que celui qu'on entend-là est vraiment... "limite grave", comme dirait mon fils de 15 ans. Un coup d'oeil sur votre partition me permettrait de mieux comprendre votre démarche. Est-elle accessible ? Avec mes encouragements sincères...

[@Tracotel]

+Pasolini Per Sempre L'enregistrement a été réalisé en 2008 avec les moyens (budget) du bord, si je puis dire et un manque de travail (et de temps) sur le Finale, notamment en ce qui concerne l'intonation des cordes et certaines balances... Je peux volontiers vous faire parvenir le pdf de la partition si vous me laissez une adresse email. Cordialement.

[@denisturner1040]

All these completions are just pastiches. They sound like the composer, but that is all. Because it is not by the composer, and is devoid of the composers genius and inspiration.

[@srothbardt]

BINGO!! You got it.

[@Schell77]

They're not pastiches at all, except for the coda and a few missing passages, since Bruckner had completed the entire movement in short score and the orchestration of the first few minutes. The ending has been lost, so that's where a completer must invent the music outright.

[@ThreadBomb]

@@Schell77 There are definitely more than "a few missing passages".

[@Schell77]

@@ThreadBomb No, that's not true actually. Read my comment, and check out the current scholarship on the topic. There's a reason why, aside from the coda and the orchestration, all of these completions are mostly identical.

[@stephenluttmann3432]

More to the point, Bruckner's own material isn't very good. The guy obviously wanted to finish the symphony in a blast of glory, but after that third movement I just don't think he had it in him.

[@xutoopro]

Heaven would be: Celibidache with his Munich orchestra playing this version live... Have you ever imagined that Sébastien? (You can of course not like the way Celi play Bruckner, but that would be interesting nevertheless)

[@Tracotel]

I could imagine. But, honnestly, I am not really a fan of Celibidache... :-(

[@thomask1424]

A very commendable effort, Mr. Letocart (and much better than the various SCMP versions), if one's made the decision to go with the "including themes from previous symphonies based on a passing remark by Bruckner" route. My quibble with your completion, and the SCMP's, is not that they are oh so serious but that they are especially so in their conclusions, notwithstanding the change from minor to major; while blazing in glory, they are lacking in joy. While opinion may differ regarding the merits of the Carragan completion, it has the virtue of having the most joyously radiant conclusion, the repeated 4-note descending motive sounding like glory spilling down from the heavens. Cheap, perhaps, even saccharine, that, to me at least, hews closer to the spirit of Bruckner's "Glory to God". Even Josephson manages to capture the joy, especially the sly way the minor slides to the major. Just my 2 cents.

[@bobfrancis8594]

Too bad we couldn't hear this final movement in a first-rate recording. This sound is quite poor particularly in the coda.

[@Fritzike]

Any date/time, location? :)) Thanks

[@handavid6421]

wow. wow. wow. wow! wow! speechless.

[@Tracotel]

Thanks, but it still needs a better recording, better sound with more rehearsals, more time and more money, and if possible an official live performance...

[@pepehaydn7039]

Apart from the Coda it does not sound very different to SPCM-2012 recorded by Berliner Philarmoniker. In the end this means that Bruckner's material is actually enough for us to make an idea of his intentions. The Coda is speculative, but it is exciting: several versions, several approaches. I prefer SPCM-2012 because of its austerity. The most important point is that the Coda cotains ideas from Bruckner 100%.

[@Tracotel]

"Apart from the Coda it does not sound very different to SPCM-2012 recorded by Berliner Philarmoniker." Although I can assure you this is 100% different-Especially the fugue with here a double stretto - and without the gross stylistical and harmonic mistakes of the SPCM team...

[@Tracotel]

"I prefer SPCM-2012 because of its austerity." This coda is absolutely not austere, it is awkward. The most terrible moment is the superposition of the 4 themes, the theme of the adagio being twice slower than the adagio itself! - so impossible to clearly perceive the line of the theme because it is chromatic and modulating when the rhythm of the Scherzo disturbs completely the contrepoint. The whole '"thing" sounds more like bad Shostakovich than like Bruckner.

[@giancarlopiligp]

I have the edition with the New Philarmonic Orchestra of Westphalia Johannes Wildner conductor and I had the intention of publishing it on KZbin because I had not found any previous feedback to this.

[@Tracotel]

Already available on KZbin: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJ6uf3Vnn7Sae8k

[@Tracotel]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/enLEin2qlp17pMk