Bruckner, 200 years of wonder in the spotlight in Lausanne

In an era that values ​​immersion, the Bruckner effect should do the trick, as the Austrian composer’s music immerses the listener in an enveloping and transcendent sound bath. Much celebrated in his native country on the occasion of his bicentenaryAnton Bruckner (1824-1896) still struggles to establish himself outside the Germanic world.

In the absence of his immense symphonies, very rare on the program of major orchestras, two of his youth masses prepared by the Pro Arte Choir et French-speaking Vocalists will be on display on December 4 and 8 in Lausanne. The opportunity to take a dip in a very particular acoustic universe, which suspends time and intoxicates the soul.

Despite himself, Anton Bruckner divides. Already during his lifetime, his Art had aroused controversy and perfidious comments from his peers – including Brahms (“It is a poor mad man that the priests of Saint-Florian have on their conscience”), but also a great attachment, from his students and disciples.

The Austrian composer thus has his followers, who place him at the pinnacle of Western classical music, as the heir of Beethoven. And those to whom this music does not speak at all, lost by its unpredictable harmonic sequences, its climaxes suspended in the void, its erratic lengths.

Even Renaud Bouvier, who relied on the “Mass in E minor” for his French-speaking Vocalists, and who will conduct the “Mass in D minor” and the “Te Deum” in January in Neuchâtel and La Chaux-de-Fonds with the Cantabile Choirtook a while to appreciate him: “I was neither familiar with Bruckner nor particularly attracted to him. But I found the character very endearing and his music of incredible quality. If there is a work for which the word sublime is not overused, it is this one!”

A socially handicapped person

At the origin of the misunderstanding about Bruckner, there is this gulf which separates the man from his work: “The testimonies of his contemporaries highlight his rustic, humble, almost naive side,” recalls Pascal Mayer. He passed for a bit of a Danube peasant. But this external appearance hid a gigantic creative force, and his music is astonishingly modern.”

Beyond his intense faith, we know that Bruckner often fell in love, but never managed to marry. “His sentimental loneliness is extreme and he often fell into depression,” notes Renaud Bouvier. The “Mass in E minor” was written after one of these crises during which he disappeared for several days in the forest. This psychological drama shines through in the score.” Pascal Mayer, who conducts the “Mass in D minor” agrees: “Despite the complexity, the writing is always emotional and it never diminishes in intensity.”

Excessively modest and insecure, Bruckner was very sensitive to the criticism of others, and most of his pieces were retouched, resulting in a number of variations. The titanic project “Bruckner2024» by conductor Gerd Schaller presenting in particular the eleven symphonies (nine official and two unnumbered) in all their variants fills 30 CDs. A real labyrinth in which you can, if you want, get lost infinitely!

Matthew Chenal has been a journalist in the cultural section since 1996. He particularly chronicles the abundant news of classical music in the canton of Vaud and French-speaking Switzerland.More info

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