Bruckner's Fourth
Symphony was the one which began a reversal of the composer's fortunes for
the better. The Vienna premiere under Hans
Richter in 1880 was a resounding success. So elated was the composer that
after a very promising rehearsal he pressed a coin into the conductor's hand
with the enjoinder to have a beer. At the performance, Bruckner was called out
for a bow after each movement.



The original version of 1874 was reworked into an almost totally new work, the
most conspicuous changes being the replacement of the mysterious-sounding
original scherzo with the now familiar "Hunting" one; a new finale
subtitled "Volkfest" replaced the original, only to be replaced again
with a less programmatic one two years later. Along with extensive reworking of
the first two movements, these changes were all incorporated into the version
most commonly known and performed today, being designated as the version of
1878-1880. A further 1887-1888 revision by Bruckner's pupils Lowe
and Schalk
has largely disappeared.



The subtitle "Romantic" was derived from a program Bruckner was
persuaded by friends to append to the work, evoking images of medieval knights,
castles, hunting, and other things. That Bruckner halfheartedly accepted the
suggestion may be divined from his reply to a query regarding the finale:
"I've quite forgotten what image I had in mind." And yet, the first
movement's designation of "Dawn at a medieval citadel...knights sally forth
from the gates on proud chargers...the wonder of nature surrounds them..."
is admittedly a bit appropriate. Against a mysterious tremolo a horn call
emerges to be followed by the weighty and heroic main theme; a more idyllic
"song period" follows, evocative of nature and replete with bird
calls, followed in turn by a more imposing third subject; the movement's climax
is a broad and blazing brass chorale which caps the development; the
recapitulation ends with the horns powerfully repeating the symphony's opening
notes against reiterated forte chords. The slow movement, a softly-treading
andante in lieu of the usual Bruckner adagio, is said to represent a tryst of
two medieval lovers; this alternates with a more spiritual chorale-like episode
and works up to a climax for full orchestra which seems to invoke heroism more
than romance. The following scherzo is perhaps the only undisputed tone-painting
in the symphony, a rollicking, thundering depiction of a medieval hunt which is
a tour-de-force for the horns; the trio is one of Bruckner's most engaging Ländlers,
saturated with the serenity of the countryside. The finale of the 1880 version
is expansive and episodic, commencing with a prolonged crescendo of an
introduction and erupting into a theme derived from the opening of the symphony;
a relaxed, winsome second theme alternates with passages of Wagnerian
intensity and occasional fleeting references to the preceding movements; the
long coda is a typically Brucknerian workup to a sonorous tapestry of sound with
the work's opening motive woven into the fabric, bringing to a close what is
often deemed the first of Bruckner's mature symphonies.