2025-26 Concert III
Bruckner’s Embrace of Humanity
About the performance
After triumphant performances of Anton Bruckner’s 5 th two seasons ago, SPM returns to the last great late romantic symphonist in his final complete work, the monumental Symphony No. 8, described as containing music of “sheer, breathtaking magnificence.” You will hear everything from Bruckner’s “battles of demons” to his moments of transcendent light. Like his friend, Gustav Mahler’s, his symphonies embrace all of human experience and end with redemptive glory! One experiencers music like no other, and, in the end, is uplifted to the heavens. Reflecting the composer’s profound religious faith, we open the concert with a compelling arrangement for strings of Randall Thomposon’s beloved “Alleluia.”
A pre-concert talk by the renown Bruckner scholar Dr. Benjamin Korstvedt will be held 45 minutes before the start of each concert. Saturday, March 21 at 6:45pm and Sunday, March 22 at 2:15pm.
Featuring
Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner was an unlikely titan of the Late Romantic era. A humble Austrian organist by trade, he channeled his profound spirituality into “sonic cathedrals” of staggering scale and emotional complexity. While his contemporaries often sought to innovate through theatrical drama, Bruckner looked toward the infinite, building massive symphonic structures defined by powerful brass chorales and moments of haunting, prayer-like stillness. His Symphony No. 8 stands as his ultimate achievement—the work of a man who didn’t just write music, but sought to map the very architecture of the soul.
