The Immense Fugal Finale of Bruckner's Fifth Symphony

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Richard Atkinson analyzes the bewilderingly labyrinthine counterpoint in the immense fugal finale of Bruckner’s 5th Symphony in B flat major (WAB 105). This is a fair use educational commentary that uses excerpts from a recording/performance by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Bernard Haitink.
00:00 - Slow intro quoting prior movements
05:54 - Exposition, first theme (fugue, green subject)
08:17 - Exposition, second theme ("gesangsperiode" orange theme)
13:53 - Exposition, closing (3rd) theme (green augmented variant)
16:07 - Brass chorale theme (blue)
18:30 - Development (fugue, blue subject)
22:47 - Development (double fugue, blue/green subjects)
27:52 - Recapitulation (blue/green themes)
30:24 - Recapitulation ("gesangsperiode" orange theme)
33:13 - Recapitulation, closing theme, return of purple theme from first movement, counterpoint involving purple/green themes
37:01 - "Coda of all codas" with return of green/blue/purple themes in augmentation

[@Richard.Atkinson]

If you don't want to watch this all at once: 0:39 - Slow intro quoting prior movements 5:54 - Exposition, first theme (fugue, green subject) 8:17 - Exposition, second theme ("gesangsperiode" orange theme) 13:53 - Exposition, closing (3rd) theme (green augmented variant) 16:07 - Brass chorale theme (blue) 18:30 - Development (fugue, blue subject) 22:47 - Development (double fugue, blue/green subjects) 27:52 - Recapitulation (blue/green themes) 30:24 - Recapitulation ("gesangsperiode" orange theme) 33:13 - Recapitulation, closing theme, return of purple theme from first movement, counterpoint involving purple/green themes 37:01 - "Coda of all codas" with return of green/blue/purple themes in augmentation

[@MG-fh4ed]

Thanks. I love this kind of videos

[@seukfuhi]

It took the world 122 years after Bruckner's death to fully understand this Finale. I say "fully understand" because beforehand, this knowledge was only disseminated among musicologists and musicians. I was born in 1979 and I've read zillions of analyses of this movement pointing out as to how amazing, unbelievable, incredible & ginormously impressive it was, but always basically saying: "It would take an entire book to express how great it is". Well, Mankind can all have a summary of said book in 40+min on KZbin thanks to Richard Atkinson.

[@shantihealer]

This is tremendous, an analysis that musical students, scholars and lovers will return to over and over again for years to come.

[@jamesvanderhoorn1117]

As a Bruckner fan who lacks your analytical skills and whose aural acuity is near-deafness compared to yours, I thank you for making me love Bruckner even more. A brilliant video!

[@adrianoseresi3525]

I swear to god, that coda gets better every single time I hear it.

[@musik350]

My god, 45 minutes analysis, this is a good day

[@zaharishtonov]

RDVMusic - 🙂

[@GreenTeaViewer]

This symphony is like nothing else in music. A type of crudeness or naivety mixed with the most sophisticated technique. It's like a single man building Stonehenge.

[@paulbrower4265]

...and that is Bruckner to a tee, the naïf with marvelous technique. I hear the musical expression of a builder of a great cathedral, only this time with sounds instead of masonry.

[@peterunderhill1]

We don't deserve this channel. I feel like crying with delight when I see one of these new videos!

[@tm2189]

Well said!

[@Alexagrigorieff]

There are 5 minute videos I can't sit through. Sat through all 44 minutes of this without interruptions.

[@barrybernstein9049]

Its about time that Bruckner should be standing on a pedestal next to Beethoven as the two greatest composers of symphonies

[@HeelPower200]

unbelievable. Whats makes this so much greater than any "regular" fugal work is the form. Bruckner invented his own form and its almost impossible to predict where he's going to go next. Its much like Beethoven's Grosse Fugue in essence. Complete technical mastery breaking free of any restrictions. I was mesmerized the whole time by your video. Thanks!

[@mrsneaky2010]

Daniel Barenboim likened a Bruckner symphony to an archaeological dig, exposing layer upon layer!

[@brianwolle2509]

pretty amazing and imagine anton over your shoulder, telling you what a great job you did!

[@NealJackMeKC]

The amount of dedication you put into your videos is amazing. Great job. Thank you for your knowledge.

[@helenamarie4337]

KnOwLeDgEEE

[@Nobilangelo]

Can anyone ever forget the days he first heard Beethoven, and Bruckner? For me, the first was the Emperor, played by Claudio Arrau and the Philharmonia; the second was the Third Symphony in a riveting performance by a consummate Brucknerian. A few bars was enough. It was like what Robert Frost said about poetry: 'The right reader of a good poem will know the moment it strikes him that he has taken an immortal wound--that he will never get over it.' This analysis serves to better understand the wound.

[@charlie7531]

I do not like bruckner. I thought I would enjoy it after hearing about it but it didn’t happen Eons worse then Beethoven

[@Emerald_City_]

@@charlie7531 that's why I like it even more!

[@thetimbertops7271]

The 5th and 8th are my favourite Bruckner symphonies; this survey of the final movement of the 5th is superb.

[@bonusroundsteve]

Your work here so concisely and clearly outlines everything, it makes me feel smarter than I really am.

[@abundance6692]

Extraordinary analysis of this extraordinary piece of music. This is sure to become a standard resource for the understanding of Bruckner's art for scholars, musicians, and music lovers for years to come. This is an example of musical analysis of the highest order, increasing the understanding of a complex work of art which will affect the way Bruckner's music will be listened to in the future. Thanks for all the great videos in the past and hopefully those to come in the future.

[@Richard.Atkinson]

That is a wonderful compliment and it makes me want to continue making these videos. Now if only more people would share them...

[@paulbrower4265]

@@Richard.Atkinson Just a reminder that the difference between smart people and dumb people is often their attention spans. This is the antithesis of Top-40 hits of pop music made for easy consumption that leaves one empty if one isn't a dullard. Bruckner's themes may be simple and even naive, but few could ever combine them in such a profound way. Bruckner's Fifth takes time to savor, and one does need the attention span. This is brainy music in the extreme. It is absolutely crazy to write a symphony that has four movements beginning with similar themes and tempos... but Bruckner pulls it off. I have my idea of what constitutes genius, and that is doing what seems crazy and making it obviously true. Bruckner is in that category!

[@FredHMusic-gr7nu]

HOLY MOTHER OF ALL SYMPHONIES! That was amazing! I went into this work expecting some impressive counterpoint but not with this level of epicness! Thank you so much for sharing. Your channel is also a huge help for any and many composers out there today looking for inspiration for their new original works. Again, huge thanks! Brilliant work!

[@IndoPersian1969]

Thank you so much for this INCREDIBLE video. I'm going to hear Cleveland play this tomorrow night and even though I'm 50 years old and a classical musician, I've never heard a Bruckner symphony live. Your analysis has given me such a fabulous insight into this work. My experience tomorrow is going to be so much the richer for it. Thank you!

[@seukfuhi]

So, how was it?

[@1yonjae]

Die 5. Symphonie von Anton Bruckner wurde vom 2. Satz zuerst komponiert. Die Konzeption des "Wiederausbruchs" - im Sinne von Ernst Kurth, was das symphonische Schaffen Bruckners charakterisiert, erst ab der 5. Symphonie erkennbar. Die kontrapunktische Doppelaktion (zum Beispiel Umkehrungsaugmentation = Umkehrung zugliech augmentiert (doppelt verlängert) und die 3 fache Themenmischung sowie der Einsatz des Orgelpunkt am Ende der kontrapunktischen Arbeit plus mehrmalige 5 Klänge Einsätze sind ein für Bruckner eine musikalische Waffe, mit der der Zuhörer sein Verfassungsvermögen verliert. So kommt am Ende ein Moment des musikalischen Erhabenen, in der das Subjekt gegenüber dem Werk dominiert wurde - im Sinne von Kant. Analyse Literatur: Die Analyse und die Ästhetik der Steigerungsprozesse in der Symphonik Anton Bruckners, 3 Bde, Diss. Univ. Frankfurt 2003.

[@NoiseOverMusic]

I first discovered Bruckner's genius in his motet Os Iusti. Having heard nothing else from him, I didn't know what to expect, the motet itself was rather "out there" for being in the Lydian mode and yet itself was very subdued (extremely simple harmony, very little 'oomph'). Hearing his other choral pieces, I was taken aback by how radical the harmonies were in comparison. Every piece I discover by Bruckner is a further surprise. I have never seen anybody combine traditional musical structures with radical harmonies as well as him.

[@Pricher1991]

Os Justi

[@RickGraham]

Superb work!

[@huskydogg7536]

Thank you Richard! I've been listening to Herr Bruckner's symphonies for more than 50 years and this is the best deep dive into one of his scores I've ever seen. You are wonderful at your craft!

[@bt8257]

When I first heard you say "Various other combinations that will make your head spin" in reference to the many contrapuntal combinations in this brilliant movement at 25:15, the first thought that popped into my head was "why didn't I know about this amazing composer earlier?"

[@Richard.Atkinson]

Well now you know about him, which is one of the main goals of my channel!

[@raulkostin4243]

A brilliant analysis of the complicated work of a genius. Thank you so much!

[@jerryhuang9674]

WOW!!!!! I LOVE BRUCKNER!! I'M SO HAPPY THAT YOU'VE ACTUALLY DONE A BRUCKNER ANALYSIS VIDEO!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I HOPE MORE BRUCKNER SYMPHONIES WILL BE UPLOADED IN THE FUTURE!!! THANKS!!

[@davidrothstein765]

Many Many Thanks for this.I have been listening to this tremendous symphony for 40 years and regard it as one of the pinnacles of western art. To see an excellent analysis of the finale has been immensely gratifying. Isn’t the reappearance of the chorale (blue) in the coda one of the great moments in all music?

[@Richard.Atkinson]

It certainly is one of the great moments!

[@stephenjones6746]

Yes, I agree, it is one of the finest moments in all music.

[@banjocracy]

Yes it is.

[@Emerald_City_]

One of the great moments in all music? Thé one, thé greatest symphonic moment in a way, the whole coda, and yes, one of the pinnacles of modern art! I very much admire Richard for his feat here, all of what he has done, the complexity & means deployed along with his rightfully and properly restrained voice and the remarks that hit the nail on the head and suit this titanic achievement 1000 % . Unlike Bruckner himself, I once attended (a spectacularly good) performance of this symphony, and with the start of "coda of all codas", a just couldn't remain seated any more. I had to stand up to deal with the burst of accumulated adrenaline. Luckily, it was in the last back row of the rear stalls... 😊

[@ddrothste]

@@Emerald_City_ Totally agree! I recall many years ago when I first attended a concert performance of the 5th (Israel Philharmonic- do not remember the conductor) . I was so excited to finally "see and listen in the flesh" after so many listenings on tapes. I was totally immersed for the whole performance but with a smile I remember the person who always sat in front of me (subscription series) get up after the final cords, turn to me and said " Ah that was difficult". Not everyone's taste.

[@yuguangyao590]

I am a Chinese music lover. Many times have ich the piece heard. But this clip firstly clearly transparently shows me that how and why this piece was so fascinating. Thanks for all!!

[@bmgBlackpool]

I just love your presentation of the scores using different colours and brief verbal indications. This helps to grasp quickly what otherwise only a long and arduous study of the score would reveal. Maybe Bruckner's or Beethoven's contemporaries would have been able to simply hear all these details, but we live in such a visual world now that the use of colours does the trick best! Looking forward to more great videos like this.

[@terryz935]

watching this i had a memory that i thought might be a mandela-effect: that some conductors included extra brass (the so called "eleven apostles") for this movement. thankfully, google is my friend. "The Fifth was a particular favorite of Jochum. TAHRA's notes include many detailed comments by the conductor on interpreting the entire symphony and how he uses 11 additional brass instruments in the finale: 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones and 1 bass tuba, jokingly called "the 11 Apostles - Judas, the Twelfth, is not among them." Franz Schalk found when he conducted the work that when it came to the majestic last-movement chorale brass players were so tired they were unable to present this music in its full glory, so he introduced the 11 extra players in a raised position behind the orchestra, a concept supported by Jochum except that he has the extra players mixed in with the regular brass section. From bar 583 onward in this performance all of the brass, regular and added, join in the chorale, producing a grandiose effect indeed. " from classicalcdreview.com/bruckner5ej.htm

[@mjrbruckner9539]

I think this is your magnum opus. Bruckner is simply the best. THANKS

[@Richard.Atkinson]

If you use a color filter on your computer or phone in the evening, you should disable it before watching this video, since it might make the green and blue themes look indistinguishable.

[@ferguscullen8451]

Three-quarter-hour Atkinson video? This week is turning out great.

[@hansachs]

All of Bruckner 8 next!!

[@HeelPower200]

The finale of the eighth is rather monumental itself. An insane piece of music.

[@omegaseamaster3005]

PLEASEEE ^^^^^^

[@renatoalmeida7616]

Please Bruckner 8 Finale

[@uweaschmutat4575]

Yes finale 8. next

[@bathtubbarracuda2581]

What about no. 9?

[@andreagriseri7656]

Simply....thank you!!!!!!

[@wehwalte]

No fugue fatigue man, i was rocking with my feet and headbanging, don't apologize for this amazing work of yours (for sure not for Bruckner's :P), this is gold content on youtube!

[@paulbrower4265]

Counterpoint -- the only addiction that elevates its addict!

[@AnthonyOTooleMusic]

Bravo, Richard -- this must have taken so much time to create. One of my favorite Bruckner movements. His level of craft was astounding and one could get lost for years in a Bruckner or Brahms Symphony. Thanks for making these for all to enjoy!

[@billtubehart]

Dood! Thanx!! That was a whole college course in composition, arranging, orchestration, counterpoint, harmony and everything else. You did an amazing job explaining this. I could study this for years and not come close to what Bruk did.

[@canman5060]

Symphony of the majestic nature with mountains and river streams just like holiday in Baff National Park Canada.

[@Kris9kris]

Even though I'm not an immense fan of Bruckner's symphonies (I do very much like his choral work), I never fail to recognize his genius that he had possessed and his monumental importance to western classical music.

[@mr-wx3lv]

I remember hearing this work for the first time live when I was a child.(I can't remember the artists, certainly a British Orchestra, maybe Halle orchestra). You can imagine what the impact of the incredible loudness of that final coda had on me. Never forgotten!. Bruckner just an incredible, unique man. Hooked on him ever since.

[@banjocracy]

Might have been the BBC Philharmonic, was it very early 80s?

[@mr-wx3lv]

@@banjocracy I honestly can't remember. All I remember was the first half of the concert was a first time hearing of the conductors own composition. And it went down like a lead balloon.....!

[@luigivercotti6410]

Jesus Christ, how the hell does one man create such a behemoth? As an amateur composer, just thinking about the complexity of Bruckner symphonies make me wanna crawl into a corner and cry, especially when I've been stuck in the same fugatto section for the past month

[@paulbrower4265]

The only comparison after J.S. Bach is to another Fifth -- that of Gustav Mahler, who uses counterpoint differently. His is a rondo instead of a fugue, and Mahler uses counterpoint to put off after a similarly-wondrous technique over a similar time the final chord after which anything else is anticlimax. In Mahler's fifth, one is led to a sublime joke; in Bruckner's fifth one meets God.

[@tm2189]

This is the single most monumental KZbin video ever!

[@Richard.Atkinson]

It took me about 10 times longer than any of my other videos to make, so I appreciate the comment!

[@carlooliverolayta1552]

Thank you so much for posting! As a Bruckner fan and non-music major, this helped a lot in understanding Bruckner’s music. Thank you so much!

[@wiekvanvenetie3797]

An analysis like this for the first movement of mahlers 7th symphony would be incredible!

[@dudleymoore7555]

This is a magnificent video about one of my favourite movements in all the repertoire. Bravo!

[@bernardohanlon3498]

Richard - thank you for this wonderful exposition of the Symphony of Symphonies. Best wishes, B

[@pawdaw]

Started watching, had to watch it all.

[@JoelLeBras]

Where Bruckner's genius explodes and makes his "enemies" speechless. So much science of counterpoint for a so musical, lyrical, romantical result !

[@grangetowncardiff6935]

Thank you! The finale is unbelievable. Thank you for the explanation.

[@flaggerify]

That coda is magnificent.

[@Jivanmuktishu]

Thank you so much, Richard Atkinson. Youre as good as Leonard Bernstein in analysis, AND youre master od a system of video display that is dazzling as the different themes go thru a color dance to the music. This is a magnificent exercise in close.attention.

[@FougarouBe]

Wonderful ! And right in time for me as I listened to this 5th symphony like once every week since 6 months ago ! Thank you so much for this great analysis revealing again the genius of those composers and bringing to conscience what we can feel by our heart when listening to the music !

[@jeroenbons3475]

As an avid listener to Bruckner's 5th since many years, and as an amateur-orchestral score student, I would like to convey my thanks for your cristal-clear and perceptive analysis of the fugal techniques in the unique and amazing 4th Movement. This music never fails to move me deeply, and your video allows me to understand more of the genius composer Bruckner. It has deepened the emotional impact of the music as I experience it while listening. An enrichment of the part of my life that is dedicated to great music such as this!

[@JuergenNoll]

I did it! Watched the whole thing uninterruptedly :-)

[@Richard.Atkinson]

Good job! I see you also share my talent for making adverbs out of long adjectives!

[@tm2189]

@@Richard.Atkinson A quintessentially important talent!

[@imsafresnarus]

Fantastic, super thematic analysis of a great symphony. Almost all analyses such as Simpson, Tovey, and Brown of Bruckner tend to be harmonic. Now I can only hope for rhythmic and dynamic analyses of Bruckner. I hope you will do the rest of the symphonies.

[@banjocracy]

Well done for tackling this, the greatest of symphonic fugues.

[@brianbernstein3826]

15:20 this part is awesome wow. this piece reminds me a LOT of Mozart's 24th piano concerto movement 1, not just the rhythms but the octave leaps placed on downbeats

[@NN-df7hl]

Thanks so much for this! I'm not a musician, but even as a lay listener it's helped me immensely to make my way through this formidable work. I can't say it's my fave Bruckner, but goodness it must be the most technically complex! It's like celestial mechanics in sonic form. ;) It's amazing that a "country bumpkin" had the intellectual prowess to order music at this insanely high level. His mind was obviously not like other mortals. Had he gone into medicine he may have cured cancer, or come close. PS: Would you consider giving timings of where specific sections begin? It would definitely makes things easier to follow! Like I believe the transition to the crescendo that becomes the double-fugue starts @ 10 mins 50 secs on the recording by Lorin Maazel. Would you say that's about right? Thnx!!!

[@NN-df7hl]

"Blue" seems to be the predominant aim of this symphony, I mean the exposition seems to lay out the map of a person's journey towards enlightenment: conflict ("Green"), relaxation ("Orange"), bombast (closing theme), soulful ("Blue" the Chorale). Then the development is the ACTUAL moving through the fray of life, you and your soul ("Blue") getting confronted, meeting challenges, enduring. Then the coda is Conflict (Green) transfigured and leading toward Paradise (the Chorale/Blue). Of course, I'm just a lay listener! Not a musician. Just throwing this out based on my ears alone. :) Cheers!

[@jasperiscool]

I ate this video like I eat my pancakes. All of them at once and left with a great, happy, saturated feeling. Great work!

[@1spitfirepilot]

Wow. I really appreciate this effort that went into this video, and it's a fitting tribute to the great last movement. I can't say I followed everything ( fugue fatigue) but I enjoyed trying. Many thanks.

[@emilianocorradi4079]

Awesome analysis of this monstrous piece. To be watched several times.

[@afischer8327]

A magnificent analysis of the most knotty and overwhelming Bruckner finale. There is so much here that I did not appreciate. Many thanks for all your work that went into this. I am a lifelong Bruckner listener, and occasionally performer. This is an incredibly valuable resource and learning video, of a substance comparable to its subject. I applaud you.

[@ragingboson4201]

Sublime analysis, sublime Bruckner 5! Thank you so much for bringing this experience to me: I never thought of its hypercomplex structure when I listened to this mvt before. Makes me appreciate it much much more now!

[@JMcdon1627]

Amazing amount of work. Excellent presentation. Thank you.

Beautiful! I hear so much more now when I listen to it. A casual listener does not notice all these details, but once they are pointed out, it's impossible not to notice.

[@JoelLeBras]

I realize I was listening to this twice... and like it may be more at the second time... :)

[@2905sid]

Thank you for ending only on the music, Richard. My goosebumps lasted over a minute. Incredible work. I keep coming back to this video over and over.

[@Richard.Atkinson]

Such a great symphony!

[@hyseo1121]

Sibelius said the 5th symphony is the greatest one among the symphonies that he heard earlier after hearing the premier of this work.

[@remomazzetti8757]

Unfortunately what Sibelius heard was the spurious version by Franz Schalk who completely re-orchestrated the entire symphony, and made ruinous cuts in the last two movements, and and augmented the final choral with brass band, cymbals and triangle. Bruckner's original version wasn't performed or published until the early 1930's.

[@richardwashington620]

Wow! Thank you for your wonderful video and talk. I have known this symphony since my late teens when Gunter Wand conducted a promenade concert of it at the Royal Albert Hall in 1990 (I think) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Up until that moment I had hated Bruckner and found his symphonies impossible (I was a Mahler fan). I can’t say that I fell in love with it right away. Rather, I found it utterly compelling, a feeling augmented by Wand’s autocratic command of the music and stoical conducting. It was one of those “event” concerts, when you know that this is a piece of music that you must learn to know, that in time you will unlock its secrets. Over the years I have come back to it again and again and I am deeply in love with it now…..the entry of the chorale at the Coda usually brings tears to my eyes and electricity flows through my body, just as it did as I watched your film. I have slowly realised that it is perhaps the purest expression of Bruckner’s musical genius. Your film has helped explain to me why this is so. I cannot listen to Bruckner’s music too often. It’s too powerful. Too cosmic, too moving. He is capable of unlocking a particular and overwhelming vision of the divine in a unique way. Thank you for explaining the tools and mastery by which he achieved this.

[@HotRatsAndTheStooges]

Wow. This must have taken a long time to put together. I'm 10 minutes in but I have to say that this is one of your strongest and most interesting videos yet!

[@Richard.Atkinson]

Let's just say it gave me carpal tunnel syndrome...

[@montana6041]

Thank you!

[@lanonyme]

Époustouflant. Le grand Anton Bruckner s'est surpassé. J'ai maintes fois écouté cette 5ème Symphonie et 'est l'une de mes préférées avec la monumentale 8ème. Un immense merci pour votre analyse . . . .

[@michaelsieger9133]

Thank you. Sometimes we are simply swept away by the beauty of the music and we forget how much meticulous planning went into the composition of these symphonies. But as opposed to other subjects, where working through the details can become a tedious slog, this sort of analysis only increases my appreciation for the music of Bruckner.

[@Emerald_City_]

Yet the meticulous planning you mention somehow sum up in a gloriously organic whole, with nothing contrived in it!

[@enriquesanchez2001]

Richard - you make this all sound so EASY! :) Thank you!

[@renatoalmeida7616]

Great...please Bruckner 8 Finale in next video.

[@marsaeolus9248]

Bruckner was a genius

[@huskydogg7536]

Hard to believe but in his life more people called him a simpleton than a genius!

[@Jivanmuktishu]

@@huskydogg7536 True; on the other hand, Richard Wagner described him as Beethoven's successor.

[@dqvissmyph2968]

Brilliant video. What joy the composer must have felt on completing this mighty symphonic journey. The clarinet tune at bar 11 reminds me of a little coiled spring, gaining strength through this movement until it rears up in unrecognisable splendour to drive the fugue to its conclusion.

[@chrisflushy]

Actually he said he wouldn’t compose it again even if they pay him 500 gulden.

[@bernardohanlon3498]

Richard, greetings. I love returning to this video - it is one of your Pyramids and KZbin is going to be around for a long, long, time. Given the opulence of the B5 - the Symphony of Symphonies - you could probably make a new video on it every year and still have something wonderful and original to say. Mozart's Prague Symphony is on the agenda today,. Best wishes to your good self - B

[@brendanward2991]

This video must have been a nightmare to make. Your hard work is much appreciated. The John Williams theme was always one of my favourite moments in the symphony!

[@Emerald_City_]

Absolutely...

[@exploringrvdude7817]

I'd love to see you tackle Bruckner's mighty 9th, it was the first orchestral work I ever saw in concert and it remains one of my favorite pieces of music.

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

The scherzo of that is, according to my mum, the first music I danced to as a toddler. I can't remember of course, but I do remember singing along without the music actually playing.

[@Emerald_City_]

First time I heard Bruckner was the 9th too, also in concert

[@annakimborahpa]

Astute analysis of a monumental, but joyfully exuberant finale. Anton was having some pedagogical fun composing this one. Haitink well conveys the hijinks.

[@currawong2011]

Oh dear...this is what KZbin could be/should be. Magnificent achievement....I thank you for helping me to better understand the complexity of Bruckner's near unimaginable architectural achievement. I will now wipe away the tears. Thank you again.

[@carlconnor5173]

Richard, this fascinated me. Please do the same with my favorite part, the 2nd movement!

[@ob4161]

Absolutely fantastic work! Cannot thank you enough for your time. Wow Bruckner really is a disciple of Bach!

[@henriquebocardo-crespo5735]

Thanks so much for your insightful musical analysis.

[@chopincookies]

Indeed a coda of all codas... brave us watched all at once (and became quite disfunctioned near the end). Bravo!

[@JeanPaul-Hol65]

I only have one thing to say: thank you for this wonderful effort... or to say it better: for this "Counterpoint fatigue"!! 😁😉 By a grateful italian brucknerian.

[@CalebDickinsonMusic]

I’ve watched the whole video 4 times. Fascinating stuff.

[@mikesimpson3207]

I watched this on a whim as someone who has listened to a little Bruckner (though not this piece yet), and who so far has had a hard time getting into it. I feel like I should enjoy Bruckner more than I do, but on a first encounter I find much of his symphonic work a bit dry, with big climaxes that sometimes feel like they weren't built up to. However, "Immense Fugal Finale" sounds right up my alley, and watching your video has given me some things to listen for whenever I sit down with the fifth. Mostly, the related middle movements, as well as having a multi-theme fugue that includes melodies from earlier in the piece. That's one of my favorite musical magic tricks that comes up now and then in Hindemith, sort of the composer saying "Remember that tune? You didn't know it was also a fugue subject, huh?" Sometimes getting into music in an unfamiliar style is easier with a basic roadmap, so hopefully this video will help me "get" Bruckner, or at least this symphony if not the others.

[@60bui]

GREAT WORK, THANK YOU!!!

[@stephenjones6746]

Thank you Richard for this wonderful and utterly engrossing analysis. I thought I knew this magnificent movement well, but I was mistaken. Good God !, is there anything more triumphant in the symphonic repertoire than the coda of this movement?

[@Emerald_City_]

No, but there a a few strong contenders in some of his other symphonies... ;)

[@jamesmccullough3267]

Richard, your commentary and score illustrations are very good. Excellent choice of subjects and examples. You make this former music major recall the harmony lessons he endureed so long ago with great enjoyment.

[@davidwright8432]

Very many thanks! I've been a Bruckner fan since age 15, too many decades ago. I read music, as a five yr old reads text; but the explantations, score, and playing are very helpful to extending understanding. It's like seeing a vast, comples and beautiful machine disassembled, the parts played with to see how they mesh or interact. when i come to revisit the whole 5th (tomorrow!) I'll be listening carefully. I look forward to more videos - and have of course subscribed and requested updates.

[@Emerald_City_]

I first heard Bruckner when I was 15 too :) It was the 9th in a 1973 concert, followed by the LP's of the 4th, the 7th, and the 3rd, then by the 6th, then by the 8th in a radio broadcast... the addiction was definitive and locked after hearing the first bars of 4th and the 7th's Adagio. When some years later I heard the 1st, I didn't expect much but was still impressed. I think it's been underrated, though the real fun begins indeed with the 3rd... and the 4th is such a masterpiece, it's hard to fathom how Wagner could make such a mistake by choosing the 3rd instead of 4th.

[@muhchung]

Thank you very much for this detailed analysis of the stunning movement!! I sure would like to watch this over and over again.

[@danielzarb-cousin8074]

YES! I have been waiting for this. Thank you.

[@billtubehart]

How about doing Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste the First movement? It's pretty amazing too.

[@user-ol1ib1ss2b]

Grand music. Thanks Richard!

[@d.bruckner2876]

Bravissiomo! Very helpful to me as I am going to hear Bruckners Nr. 5 this afternoon played by the Symphonny Orchestra of the Bavarian Broadcasting Association conducted by Christian Thieleman. Thank You so much for this awsome introduction!