Klaus Laczika about Bruckner's Ninth Symphony

Anton Bruckner was born in the village of Ansfelden, in Upper Austria, where his father was the local schoolmaster and verger in the village church. After his father’s death, Bruckner’s mother took the twelve year old to the great monastery of St. Florian, some twelve kilometres away, where he was admitted to the boy’s choir. Here he would receive a thorough training not only as an assistant schoolmaster but most importantly as a musician.
The Brucknertage at St. Florian take place in the very monastery where Bruckner spent a substantial part of his life and where he is buried. The monastery was a safe place to him, a spiritual home; he would often return to St. Florian to improvise on the organs in the Basilica and to work on his compositions in peace.
The Brucknertage were initiated by Dr. Klaus Laczika, a doctor and himself a child of the region. The artistic director is Matthias Giesen, an accomplished organist and conductor who is musical director of the basilica and, like Bruckner before him, leader of the children’s choir.
Apart from his profound love for and knowledge of Bruckner’s music, Dr. Laczika has strong ideas about the relationship between music and medicine. In his own practice in Vienna he often uses music in therapy, basing his work on the idea that the natural rhythms of classical music - as opposed to those of computerised music - match, on a fundamental level, the rhythms of the human body. Bruckner’s almost obsessive preference for strict numerical order corresponds closely with this idea.

[@Anvanho]

Wow! A Blüthner piano seen there during the video! I've only ever played one Blüthner in my life. Wonderful!

[@notaire2]

Kompakte und verständliche Erklärung zusammen mit wunderschöner Musik. Danke!

[@threethrushes]

Juxtaposition of music accompanying Prof. Klaus commentary brings this to life. Very interesting talk.

[@spitm018]

Thank you very much dear Prof Laczika

[@jackwilmoresongs]

Please leave the Bruckner 9th symphony as three movements. I can never forget the sublime peace and farewell I was stunned with on first hearing this work. I wish well meaning scholars would not try to "complete" this symphony. There are three other symphonies that remind me of this peaceful celestial conclusion - Earnest Bloch's Symphony in C# Minor, Albrich Magnard's 4th, Charles Ives' 4th.

[@jackwilmoresongs]

@once a musician I see your point also. However Bruckner had plenty of symphonies close in such a blazing affirmative manner. Maybe the God he served at the end of his life said "This time you'll just close in a peaceful eternal rest."

[@av-uc4vx]

Wow wat mooi!

[@jdiwkall]

I wonder what his opinion is of the SPMC version of the FINALE from 2012, recorded by Simon Rattle.