Bruckner, and Wilhelm Furtwängler

This is part one of a recording of the Ninth Symphony of Anton Bruckner, the one that he dedicated "to the beloved God" ("dem lieben Gott") and was unable to finish before his death. Three movements were complete, and much progress was made on the fourth and final movement, but not enough (in my opinion) to justify assembling a completion, though several attempts have been made. It is incomplete with just the three movements, but perhaps it is best to leave it thus, a reminder of our mortality. When it became clear to Bruckner that he was not going to see it through, he suggested that a performance might conclude with his choral setting of the Te Deum, an immensely magnificent work - in the wrong key for a conclusion to this symphony, but I think it indicates in spirit Bruckner's intent for the final movement.

The recording is by Wilhelm Furtwängler (one of my favorite conductors of the older generation) and the Berlin Philharmonic, in a live performance on October 7, 1944. The original tapes were confiscated by the Soviets in 1945 and only became available decades later. This performance is almost terrifying in its intensity.

One can hardly imagine what the conditions were for a group of musicians to play this music in that time and place, with the Russians almost at their doorstep, the Germany they loved in ruins, and an insane and deadly tyrant in control. It is not hard to hear this in the background of this recording; it is life and death for these musicians. To hear what I mean, listen to the last two minutes or so of the first movement, starting about the 8:55 mark of the second YouTube file:
Ninth Symphony, part two of five

In his "de-Nazification" trial after the war, Furtwängler said this:

I knew Germany was in a terrible crisis; I felt responsible for German music, and it was my task to survive this crisis, as much as I could. The concern that my art was misused for propaganda had to yield to the greater concern that German music be preserved, that music be given to the German people by its own musicians. These people, the compatriots of Bach and Beethoven, of Mozart and Schubert, still had to go on living under the control of a regime obsessed with total war. No one who did not live here himself in those days can possibly judge what it was like. (from Wikipedia, s.v. "William Furtwängler")

After the war, it became clear that Furtwängler had helped as many Jewish musicians as he could to escape, including the conductor Josef Krips and the composer Arnold Schoenberg. He also had connections with the Resistance, and the organizers of the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1944, the "20 July plot." But to a large degree after the war he remained under a cloud. Because of intense opposition by musicians such as Isaac Stern, George Szell, and Arturo Toscanini (who all three spent the war safely ensconced in the United States), the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was forced to withdraw their offer to make Furtwängler their musical director. He was never permitted to conduct in the United States.

Furtwängler died in 1954.

There is a 2001 movie on YouTube about the investigation and trial of Furtwängler in 1946: "Taking Sides." I have not yet watched much of it [added later - now I have; see the second footnote]

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Footnotes:

There are some 900 "views" of the first of the YouTube files of this performance of the Bruckner; the later sections of the recording (there are five, covering the three movements) have only 300 or so views.

The other day, as J. and I planned music for a summer diocesan event, we sampled two YouTube recordings that will be used for liturgical dance. These recordings, of "music" which I found to be cold, commercial, and entirely devoid of either musical or spiritual content, had some 200,000 views each.

The wicked prowl on every side, and that which is worthless is highly prized by everyone. (Psalm 12:8)

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I spent the latter part of this Sunday evening watching the aforementioned movie about Furtwängler. One thing is clear: there are no easy answers as to what a musician is to do in such a time. Or any person. May God have mercy on us all.

The Nazi experience is a proof that Music and other aspects of High Culture are not in themselves sufficient to resist evil. Only God can do that. Or more to the point, God-With-Us (Emmanuel).